


Until the Sunset

by Risafi



Category: BanG Dream! Girl's Band Party! (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Interspecies Relationship(s), Interspecies Romance, Loosely based on The Little Mermaid, girlxgirl, mermaid au, slight angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-21
Updated: 2021-01-05
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:07:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 27,380
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26026960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Risafi/pseuds/Risafi
Summary: Ran has always been fascinated by the sea; her family being marine biologists themselves drove her to look into the depths below. But when she meets a curious and overly friendly mermaid and their friendship blossoms into something more intimate; a seemingly innocent fable may cause more harm than good for them to finally be together.
Relationships: Aoba Moca/Imai Lisa, Mitake Ran/Udagawa Tomoe
Kudos: 22





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Another prompt that I really wanted to explore in depth; I also always loved the little mermaid as a child and that sparked the idea in mind~

She loved the ocean.

As a five year old child; she would run out to the water but was unsure why she was so fascinated by it. She just loved the sound of the splashing and loved the feel of the water on her skin. She was often told by her parents to be careful; and she would do her best.

One day she had snuck out of their villa on the shore; running down to the jetty and reaching the edge to lean over. She noticed something red in the water, so on instinct she leant down and stretched as far as she could to grasp at it. It moved away so she moved closer, and closer-

There was a small splash as the girl let go of the jetty edge and toppled in after her red prize. Instantly she panicked, flailing around in the water with no way of knowing if she was sinking or flailing to the surface.

She refused to open her eyes; but she felt large arms wrap around her and hoist her body and seem to push her up out of the water. She coughed a few times and began to cry; her saviour making cooing noises and stroking the back of her head. The little girl opened her eyes through tears to see the red she was chasing; and she grabbed it while still sobbing. It felt silky smooth; hair.

“Careful with that, it’s still attached little one.” her saviour gave a chuckle and bobbed over to the shore where a rock was close. “You need to be careful if you don’t know how to swim, wouldn’t want you drowning would we?”

The girl sniffled and nodded her head as she still clung to the older person. She soon saw a large, finned tail flick up in the shallow water and her sniffling stopped. “Fishy?”

“Yeah, you can call me a fishy if you want.” The woman was kind; her red hair was long and lush, and her blue eyes were glistening as she finally got a good look at the child. Black bobbed hair and large rose coloured eyes with fear slowly leaving them and being replaced with a glisten. “Aren’t you cute? You’ll be okay now little one. I need to leave you before anyone else sees me; so we’ll keep me a secret okay?”

The little girl nodded and patted the woman on her head gently. “Okay, Fishy.”

The finned woman gave a chuckle as she hopped up on the rock and finally let the little girl go; who seemed to not want to let go of her hair just yet. “Are you okay? You really like it huh?”

The girl nodded; before moving back to cuddle in. “Not just yet, five more minnies.”

“Okay, okay, five more and then you need to go home. Your family will start to get worried.” The woman stroked her hair gently, peering over to see a few figures emerging from the house. The family had noticed she was gone. “Okay, your family is coming. I’ll come and see you soon alright?”

The little girl let go with a nod; her free hand now gripping the end of her pyjama shirt. “Okay, bye-bye Fishy.”

The little girl then slid off the rock and onto the sand once more; running back towards her obviously panicked parents. She then shivered feeling cold from the water. She didn’t feel happy that her parents scolded her for it; but she was too interested in seeing her saviour once again that she just nodded and agreed to the punishment she was dealt. Which admittedly was no icecream after dinner for a few days.

*---*

She was eight when she could finally proudly say that Fishy was her friend. Despite not ever getting her real name, as the Mermaid would say that she preferred her new name.

The girl had started to make a diary of her meetings with her; she had a picture in it that showed the various key features of her. The red hair, blue eyes, little fangs and she noticed on her red tail that there was a very dark red heart shaped mark where a human’s side of the thigh would be.

“Whatcha got there?” She was startled as she noticed her friend’s face leaning on her hands on the nearby rock. The same rock they had met at for the past three years now.

“Oh, just my diary.” She closed it and locked it before it went back into her satchel bag. “I just like to draw or write about our time together.”

“Is that a thing humans do a lot?” The mermaid cocked her head slightly in curiousity.

The girl nodded in response. “Yeah, some of us do. My dad kind of does it for a living. He does research about the ocean and the sea life.”

“That’s really cool! Maybe he can talk with me and I can redo it all for him.” The mermaid grinned and moved around so they were closer. “Would you ever do that as a job?”

“I think so. I’m too young to work yet, but I do like the ocean.” The girl shuffled over so she could play with Fishy’s hair. “I love this colour. Do your sisters have the same?”

Fishy shook her head. “Nah, we all have different colours. And our tails match our hair colour.” She leant over to stroke the girl’s black locks. “Your hair is very soft; a different soft. Do you think it’s because there’s no salt in the water you wash it with?”

“Maybe.” The girl leant into the hand, enjoying her hair being played with. “We also use stuff called shampoo. It’s like a liquid that foams up when we rub it on our head. Full of stuff to make hair look and feel nice.”

“That sounds really cool. You humans make really cool stuff.” Fishy finally stopped and her head snapped towards the villa. She could see a figure standing on the front deck. “Looks like your dad is about to come and get you.”

The girl looked to see her father waving in her general direction, and she sighed. “Sorry, means I have to go. I’ll see you later Fishy.” She moved over to give her a hug and Fishy squeezed back.

She watched her human friend walk back towards the house, and she gave a sigh. Her heart felt strange and her tail tingled a little bit. Maybe this is what it felt to have some form of emotional attachment to someone. Her little one had said they were friends; so she guessed that this was the feeling of having to part ways after hanging out.

She gave a grin as she slid back into the water and departed down to her own home.

*---*

“This is the book I was talking to you about.”

A thirteen year old girl was waving a hardcovered book in her hand at Fishy, who seemed to almost watch it like a cat watching a laser light. She hoisted herself up onto a cove rock they had found in their adventures over the years to make sure she wasn’t seen by the family. The girl sat down beside her and opened it up in front of them. “There’s a fable about a mermaid in this one. There’s pictures so you wont have to read too much this time.”

“So I have a question.” Fishy flicked her tail as she peered at the book. “Fables generally mean they were made up by tricks of the eye, right? But you now know I’m real, so really, fables are real.”

“I think you just answered your own question, but yes. Most people think that all these…for better word, creatures are just their imagination.” The girl moved close to lean against her friend’s side. “I was actually curious if the tale they used for the mermaid would be real or if it’s just way out there.”

Fishy looked it over; more looking at the pictures rather than reading like their meeting was supposed to be about. “Who is this creature supposed to be then?”

“She’s named Ursula. She’s a sea witch who I think was cursed by the royal mermaid family.” The girl noticed Fishy give an unreadable look at the picture. “She lures the youngest daughter in to take her voice in exchange for getting legs to live on the land and fall for the prince. Depending on the story; the ending differs.”

“I mean, I do know of a sea being who dabbles in that kind of magic. My littler sister is best friends with her. She calls herself a sorceress though from memory.” Fishy tapped her chin. “She has mentioned before that she was looking into such a potion; but she wasn’t sure if it was right to test it on one of us.”

The girl lifted her head and looked at her expectantly. “would you ever consider it? Mind you, it’s a huge deal to do I guess.”

“I’ve thought about it. I really think I would need something very powerful to allow myself to try. Like, love or something.” She leant over to rub their cheeks together. “Don’t get me wrong, you’re my closest friend, but you’re also really young still so having to deal with me isn’t a good idea.”

“Probably not, but maybe one day when I’m older and making money. Then I can buy you heaps of food and stuff you ask me to bring for you to try. Maybe your taste buds will change?” The girl pulled out her diary and unlocked it. “I’m gonna write this down so I don’t forget about it.”

Fishy smiled and pet her head gently. “You’re a very kind little one.”

*---*

She was sixteen when she was sobbing in their little rock cove.

“We’re moving away, my uncle and aunt are too sick so my dad wants us to focus on looking after them.” She wiped her eyes before more tears flowed. “I don’t want to leave you.”

Fishy, having aged ever so slightly, preened her angular side fins. She wasn’t sure what to do about the situation. “I don’t want you to leave either, but family comes before anything right?”

The statement didn’t seem to mean much as the girl sobbed harder; Fishy grabbed her and pulled her in for an embrace. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make it worse.”

“You didn’t; it’s okay.” She calmed down a little, wiping her face while still holding her mermaid friend tightly. “I’m just, you’re my best friend. We’ve spent almost every day together and now we just wont be able to.”

“Maybe one day you’ll come back. You never know.” Fishy stroked her hair gently and pulled her back so they could stare one another in the face. “And if you don’t? You at least have your diary. Full of memories. And I’ll have them too; always. You’re my best friend too.”

The girl nodded her head slowly. “I promise that I’ll come back one day. I don’t know when, but I will. And I hope you’ll be waiting for me.”

Fishy pulled her back into an embrace and gave a smile. “I wouldn’t dream of anything else.”

But she would still check every day for the following few months; despite knowing that the family had indeed moved out, and an elderly lady who seemed to be on her way out moved in to sit the house until further notice.

_Six Years Later_

“Well, let’s see what mess our parents left for us to pile through.”

Two women in their early twenties had arrived at a villa on the beach; their elderly keeper had passed the month before so they both made the decision to move back to the family home and take over. They knew the woman was kooky, but she didn’t seem the type to have kept the villa untidy in their absence.

Upon opening the door and peering in, a lot of the room was untouched. Plastic sheets still over the furniture in the entry hall and living room. Kitchen was a little dusty but otherwise spotless. All of the woman’s belongings had been returned to the family; so all the girls had to do was to clean up and revamp some areas.

“It’s weird being back here, but not unpleasant.” The black haired woman stated as they both dropped their luggage in the main hall and began to move through the area. “It’s almost like we never left.”

“It’s all still nice and cozy.” The other woman stated in a slowish manner; her face however suddenly forming a grin. “Maybe once we open everything back up you can see Fishy again.”

The first woman rolled her eyes. “You and I both know I made her up Moca. If you didn’t spend our childhood sleeping all the time we could’ve been best friends. But no, I had to invent one to survive.”

“Boooo, you’re so mean to me Ran. You could’ve easily woken me up to play.” Moca slumped over the counter as Ran fumbled with keys to unlock all the cabinets and pantry. Supposedly security was a huge deal in their family; they’d locked everything away from use.

Ran frowned as she turned around and began unlocking the large glass doors to the mini outdoor area. “I did, every day. And I bribed you with food and you’d eat it and then sleep right after.”

“Fine, well you’re stuck with me now forever. I’m never leaving this house again.” Moca plucked herself off the counter and sauntered in tow with Ran to open the next hall.

“I’m not going to leave either. As long as Dad is willing to pay us to continue their research, I’m satisfied with doing as much.” She opened up a couple of empty rooms with boxes of old clothes and children’s toys. “That’s a job for later looks like. Wonder what we can do with the rooms?”

“Rent them out to Hii-chan and Tsugu when they graduate college?” Moca followed to the last two rooms; both packed with office supplies and more boxes overflowing with papers.

“Not a bad idea actually. Furnishing the rooms wouldn’t be expensive either.” Ran then beckoned Moca to turn and move back out into the main room and up the stairs. “Wonder if all our bedrooms will be the same? Because those will have to change if so.”

They both headed upstairs; opening the first couple of rooms that seemed to have been untouched and covered. Their parent’s rooms from the size.

“Dibs on your dad’s room. Single bed and closest to the kitchen.” Moca stated with a grin, and Ran shrugged.

“That’s fine, your parents had the ensuite so I’m cool with that.” She smirked as she opened the last room; which had their child’s beds still in. “Looks like we have a guest room too. Though I think we should ditch the racecars and get a normal sized bed.”

“Agreed. We can organise that after we buy new bed linen. We shoulda thought of that before moving in I think.”

Ran nodded before jingling the keys. “We need to cut another set anyway so we have one each. And shop for food. So we may as well just go do it all now and then we can scope out the beach.”

Moca gave a smirk in response.

*---*

Moca had opted after the shopping trip to do what she did best; sleep. Ran yawned as she set up the ensuite to be her own bathroom, and then decided that she would gear up with a belt her father left of his tools and trudge along the beach as planned. She knew that they would be walking into a hefty cleanup in their wake; and the more she could collect the more evidence they would have for pending lawsuits. The usual.

She had helped a little crab pick a bigger shell and she took the bit of trash it was using instead; and as she stood up she noticed that there was someone laying on the shore. As in, laying in a way that they possibly weren’t conscious.

“Hey! Are you okay!?” She called out, getting no response.

Ran took no time to break into an awkward sand sprint; she slowed down and knelt down before turning the body over and feeling her face go hot at the sight.

Long flowing red hair, smooth skin and she seemed to be in some sort of shell bralet in a deep crimson colour. Ran creased a brow and decided to keep looking down to see-

“A fish tail?” She then saw rope wrapped around tightly; cutting into the scales. A net. “Ah man, no wonder you’re passed out.”

She saw the creature’s eyes flicker open as she moved to grab the flick knife; she then started to thrash in a panic as Ran stopped her hand with the knife and used the other to grab her tail to hold her down.

“Woah, stop! Please, I just want to help you!” She cried, not daring to move until the thrashing stopped; albeit now her breathing was heavy from wasting so much energy. Ran swallowed hard as she carefully moved the knife over and pulling the rope away enough to wedge it in and flick up to cut through. She was careful to try not pull any of it and risk it cutting in any further. The mermaid? Pushed her torso up to merely watch and winced as she felt the rope being removed from her wounds.

Ran managed to cut her free and pulled the rope away and behind her, and flicked the knife back into its safety position before pocketing it fast. She then grabbed the tail gently to inspect the barbed fins to make sure they were intact. She was in awe of the pearlescent webbing as she stretched them out and the sun illuminated them. She breathed hard as she then checked her main scales and she came across a peculiar mark on her side. It seemed to be a dark heart shape. Her throat felt dry.

“Fishy?!” She barked, daring to look into the mermaid’s eyes. Beautiful ocean blue that seemed to open up more in surprise.

The mermaid said nothing, but nodded and reached out to Ran’s left side; she stroked at a now red streak in her shorter hair. She smiled as she rubbed the hair in her fingertips gently.

“Long time no see.” She finally rasped; her attempt to hide her pain was fading fast. “Sorry it had to be like this though.”

Ran shook her head and began to check the pockets; in which she found some gauze. “I can put this around so it’ll barricade your wounds from too much salt, but any ointment is going to just run off once we get you back in.”

“You don’t have to, just push me back in if you have to.”

Ran ignored the comment and began wrapping the most damaged area; the end of the tail where her end fins were. “How long have you been like this?”

“I dunno, not too long. I saw two people go into your old house a bit ago; leave and then come back again. I saw it was you and came closer to make sure.” She scratched the back of her head in slight embarrassment. “I guess I got a bit excited at the thought of making a grand entrance.”

Ran placed her hands on her hips and sighed. “I want to scold you; but you would never tell me your real name and calling you Fishy isn’t going to cut it.”

“Tomoe.” She responded with a grin. “It’s not like you ever told me yours either, little one.”

“It’s Ran.”

Tomoe reached out to pull her into an embrace; her heart thumping against her chest. “I’ve missed you a lot.”

“I’ve missed you too. I promised I’d come back.” Ran had a small smile on her face. “I thought about you every day I was gone.”

“Me too; my sisters got concerned when I didn’t talk about you.” Tomoe chuckled and went to let go, Ran instead pulled her in tighter.

“Five more minutes.”

*---*

Ran left the beach to go back to her villa; Tomoe’s top half of her head poking out of the water to watch. Getting back in stung and was difficult at first to bear; but she got used to the feeling. The gauze on her tail did make her feel a bit better, and it seemed to strengthen it up so she could still swim okay.

She didn’t understand the feeling she had. But she knew that if that was how she would feel everytime she saw her friend again; she would want to see her every day.


	2. chapter two

Ran was treading water a few days later; checking out a fishing net put way too close to the shoreline. She was muttering to herself as she tugged on it, realising it was weighed down a bit too well. Usually she would wait until Moca was awake to help with these kinds of things, but Moca seemed to be sleeping in a lot lately which she figured was due to the sudden need to renovate the house ontop of everything else.

“You look like you need some help.”

Ran squeaked as she heard the voice and arms wrapped around her waistline. She looked back to see Tomoe’s beaming face behind her.

“You scared me; we’re in the middle of the water.” She huffed a little bit as she was let go. “But you’re not incorrect.”

“Oh, right.” Tomoe came around to face her before scooping her up once more. “What’s the plan then?”

Ran gripped her shoulders on instinct, and seemed glad to have someone with the strength in the water with her instead. “Trying to lift this fishing net, but it’s got rocks holding it down or its tied to something heavy. Was just bracing myself to dive down and check.”

“I’ll do it for you. I can stay down there a lot longer.” A single fang was shown in the lobsided grin.

Ran pursed her lips before looking in the assumed direction Tomoe’s tail was currently sitting. “Are you sure though? I don’t want you to get hurt again.”

“It’ll be fine this time. We’ll be doing this together, and we can go slow on it.” Tomoe let Ran go gently and waited til she was treading the water before completely removing her hands. “Let me just check what’s going on and I’ll pop back up in a sec.”

Ran watched as she slipped back down; treading the water and looking to see Moca finally making her way out to the beach. Soon after Tomoe had resurfaced and was looking a bit puzzled in her wake.

“The rope is tied around square things; they wont budge either.” She put her arms around Ran again to keep her human friend’s head above water. “How do you do it usually?”

“Ah, cement blocks. We’re going to have to cut the netting free then.” Ran made a motion with her hand. “Like what I did to get you free. Think you can do that?”

“Sure can, pass it over and I’ll get to work. I’ll cut and you pull and we should have it all done easy.”

Ran pulled a hunting knife from her utility belt; carefully placing the handle in Tomoe’s mouth. Her fangs sunk into the wood as she attempted to smile before letting go and diving back down. Ran grabbed her snorkel and mask from the top of her head and slid it down into place before placing her head in the water and grabbing the net in both hands. She could see her friend well below; like a small red goldfish ducking around plantation. She was careful to back away as Ran tugged up, and moved to the next block to cut away. Ran could feel the weight getting a little too much; so opted to stay in place and hold what she had until she saw Tomoe at the last block.

The mermaid looked back, seeing the halt in the line and grabbed the bottom of it before darting across the bottom and grabbing the loose ends. The power in her left Ran stunned as she was bundling the net and still swimming at the same pace before shooting up towards her.

Ran broke the surface and Tomoe shortly followed; knife back in her mouth and they both paddled to the shoreline where Moca was waiting with a bag. She had her hand over her eyes, and the free one she used to wave them in. Or more, to wave Ran in. Her hand slowed as she saw a second head. Who stopped just as the beach was within standing ability. Moca moved in to help Ran pull the net onto the shore and shove it into the bag. Tomoe merely kept her head above the water and looked on curiously.

“Who is this?” Moca grinned and slung an arm around Ran’s shoulders.

Tomoe didn’t know why, but she didn’t like the action. Ran apparently wasn’t too fond of it either and she shrugged her off before moving closer to the water.

“Remember Fishy? Yeah turns out she is real.”

Tomoe’s ears perked at her nickname and she moved towards them like a little puppy; her tail even breaking the surface to smack down again to signify her emotion. Moca waded in after, but her expression was in complete shock as Ran carefully fetched her knife back and then pet Tomoe’s crown; the mermaid leaning into the touch.

“Wow, she’s a lot prettier than you pictures that’s for sure.” Moca moved to stand beside Ran and grab her free arm.

“Is this your mate?” Tomoe asked, the tone in her voice odd for even herself. It almost seemed daring; like she was ready to take this other human on.

Moca laughed and Ran shook her head furiously. “No! She’s my…cousin. Our mothers were sisters. We don’t-well we’re not supposed to do that kind of thing up here with family.”

Tomoe cocked her head. “Really? Mind you I am still technically half fish so maybe that’s why we don’t see a problem.”

“That seems like a really indepth conversation for another time.” Ran finally stopped petting Tomoe, who pushed herself off and drifted back to deeper waters. “We have to finish up here, but I’ll come see you tomorrow?”

“At our usual spot?” She gestured with her head. “You know, from before.”

Ran gave a nod and a small smile and her hybrid friend dove backwards and with a flick of her tail she was gone once more. Moca kept her smirk on as they tied the bag up and both dragged it back towards the villa.

“So, we were just moving here to continue the family work huh?”

“Oh shut it Moca.”

*---*

Ran had made time very day to visit Tomoe at the cove they always used to hang out in for the next few months.

She continued to teach Tomoe to read and write, and while observing her would jot down notes in her journal she had kept throughout the years. She was fascinated by how the mermaid would pick things up very quickly; all the while still being naïve to how humans worked. She figured that despite being half human, she had half animalistic thoughts and tendencies due to being half fish.

“I’m curious about something.” Tomoe sat up on a rock beside Ran, her tail and Ran’s legs submerged in water. “Why do you wear so much cloth?”

Ran swallowed the chocolate she was nibbling on and gave a puzzled expression. “What you do mean by that exactly?”

“Like, humans wear these-“ she gripped at the short leg beside her. “But then there’s another layer under that. What are you hiding?”

“Oh, it’s not about hiding. It’s more to cover up parts that shouldn’t be out in plain view.” Ran thought about how to word it. “It’s what we use to uh…”

“Oh, to mate right?”

Ran went pink and looked away. “Y-yeah. Essentially.”

She felt a tugging on the elastic of her shorts, and instantly she gabbed Tomoe’s wrist to stop the mermaid from trying to pull them down. Tomoe had pulled her shorts out far enough to at least see her bikini bottoms. Her face looked like she was unsure of why she was stopped.

“That wasn’t- we don’t do that until it’s for intimacy.” Ran was red as she looked down at the hand letting go of her shorts and they both fell silent for a moment as the fabric snapped against her waist.

“I was just curious about what you have down there.” Tomoe sat back and pointed to where if she had legs her area would be. “We part these scales when we’re ready. Did you want to se-“

“No!” Ran covered her face as she saw Tomoe begin to part her scales anyway, but when she peaked she seemed to stop and they moved back in place. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound so mean.”

Tomoe cocked her head in response. “Are all humans like this when it comes to mating?”

“Not all of us; just some of us who are…waiting for the right person.” Ran finally looked up at her face. “We also don’t just…y’know, to have babies. It’s for leisure too. We don’t always need a male to do that either.

“Females; what I am, we have I would say the same area like you. But males have like…a part that…god why am I explaining this.”

“It’s okay, I get it. It’s the same with us.” Tomoe stroked Ran’s head gently. “Thankyou for being patient with me, I know it’s hard for us to explain things to each other.”

Ran nodded and finally smiled. “Yeah, I guess so.” She soon pursed her lips. “Say, how many male mermaids are around these parts anyway?”

“Oh, none.” Tomoe gave a grin, her fangs in plain view. “We don’t need males for that kind of thing anyway. We can just like, grow the part for a week and then it goes back to normal. We have both I guess? I know some fish can change or have both depending on the species.”

“Interesting.” Ran grabbed her journal once more and began writing it all down. “Makes you wonder what would happen if you transformed into a human during that period.”

“I would assume I would take on the form I was currently…so both?” Tomoe leant into her with her grin still plastered. “Are you thinking about me being a human so we can do that?”

“I think about it sometimes, but not for that.” Ran closed her diary and put it aside. “You’re my best friend after all. There’s so much I would want to share with you and show you.”

“You’re my best friend too. I like the time we spend together.” She flicked her tail in happiness. “I wish sometimes you could become a mermaid for a day or two so I could show you my home and my family.”

“If that were possible I’d really like that.”

“I think if it came down to it I’d want to mate with you.”

Ran coughed as she choked on air; caught off-guard by the sentiment. “W-where did that come from?! Would that even work? Wait why am I even entertaining this?”

Tomoe seemed a little offended by the sentiment. “You don’t think I’m attractive? You know we find one other and stay with them for life, right?”

Ran almost felt bad at her reaction, but it was still something she had thought about once or twice and she knew she shouldn’t be thinking that way. “So what happens if the other one passes on or say, I have to leave?”

“Then we stay alone.”

Ran then felt a bit warm. “So you’re saying that you would give up that opportunity if I asked you too? Wouldn’t your family want you to keep the family line?”

Tomoe shook her head. “I have two older sisters; the oldest is taking over the throne once she marries her betrothed. Merging of two kingdoms per say.”

“Wait, you’re actually royalty?” Ran jotted down more into her diary. “How many siblings do you have then?”

“There’s five of us in total.” Tomoe counted on one hand and held her palm out with extended fingers and a thumb. “That’s five right?”

“Yes, it is. You’re very quick to learn this kind of stuff.” Ran smiled and closed her diary once more. “So what happens if you can’t find anyone to be with? Hypothetically.”

“I would be paired with the second oldest sister.” She shrugged. “Mind you she’s been sneaking away lately so I think she’s found herself a mate. She seems really happy when she comes home.”

“What if she has a human too?” Ran smirked and shook her head. “Imagine that. But if she’s happy then it’s a good thing right?”

Tomoe nodded with a smile. “Yeah I think so. She is very pretty by human standards, has a nice voice and is a very kind being.” She then gave a sigh and slipped back into the water. “Anyway, I need to go. I think we summoned her from talking too much about her. I’ll see you again soon?”

“Of course, here as always.” Ran watched her friend slip under the water and left bubbles in her wake, and she gave a small sigh.

As she made her way back to the villa with her book full of new information, she then felt strange. It was a heavy topic, but it made her think about whether it was possible for them to fall in love. The subject of finding a partner seemed so romantic, almost like penguins. She wondered if they presented a gift in the same way; she decided she would ask at their next meeting.

Then she shook her head. She liked her, sure. But there was no way she could fall for her. It just wouldn’t work anyway and it wasn’t realistic to think that way. She was just in awe because she was a marine biologist. It was her job.

“Moca, I’m home.” She called as she opened the door, seeing the tv on and a lump on the couch.

“Welcome back. Enjoy your date?” Moca smirked as she was met with an unimpressed face. “Oh come on, friends can go on dates together.”

“Fine. The meeting was…intense.” Ran took her pack off and dropped it on the dining table. “How’re you feeling today? Still sick?”

Moca shook her head. “Not anymore. But I’ve had cravings for iced buns all day. Can we go get some later?”

“Yeah sure, we can go get dinner too because I can’t be bothered cooking and I’m sure you definitely don’t.” Ran looked out into their little back yard. “And I want to get some plants. I think we could make that area a greenhouse.”

Moca nodded in response.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wanted to maybe use this chapter to set up potential reasons for things; plus to explore a mermaid that is more related to fish if that makes sense? Usually Mermaids are depicted as more human, but I thought it would be cute for the opposite so Ran would have to teach her human ways (which will come in handy later on).


	3. Chapter 3

Ran spent more time in their new little alcove garden; laptop always at the ready to respond to her father and check out potential grants via emails. She felt at peace with her coffee and work; however she would feel guilty leaving Moca in the house more often. She was still sick but insisted she was fine and didn’t need to go to the doctor.

Ran then checked an email and inwardly groaned.

It was in reference to a banquet ball; in which her and Moca would have to rub shoulders with very rich and very snooty people. And she knew that a guy who was pursuing her would be there. He always insisted on going in the hopes she would be alone for him to swoop in.

She got up with an actual groan and made her way through the livingroom, up the stairs and carefully opened Moca’s bedroom door to see her awake but looking kind of pale.

“How’re you feeling today? Are you sure I can’t book you an appointment?” She said calmly.

Moca shook her head furiously. “No I’m fine, honestly. Did you need me for something?”

“Another banquet is coming up. Dad wants us to be there early and he’ll take over later on.”

Moca sat up slowly and scrunched her nose up. “Ew, he know we hate that side of the gig. Everyone brings their stupid adult kids in hopes they’ll hook up for more money. They all hate your dad being the richest.”

“Oh and don’t we both know it.” Ran rolled her eyes and sighed. “Anyway, I’ve just about finished with my thesis and I’ve made more reports about all the legal stuff. I’m gonna go and meet Tomoe.”

“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” Moca smirked and laid back down as she got a roll of the eyes in response.

Ran closed the door behind her and made her way out to the beach and took her time wandering through the sand and enjoying the breeze. She slowed down and stopped however as she saw a pair of eyes watching her from the water.

“Tomoe?” She said loud enough for the being to hear, however they gasped and went to dive down. “Wait no don’t leave!”

The head came back up, and instantly she noticed that this was a different mermaid. Her hair was a more brownish colour and wavy; she had a beauty spot and freckles on her face. Her grey-green eyes were larger and glistening. Ran waded into the water cautiously as the mermaid swam towards her.

“Hey, sorry for scaring you. You live around here?” She asked as the mermaid bobbed up bust height; her bralet was coral iridescent.

“I do!” She had an upbeat and bubbly voice. “But, you’re not my human. Do you live here too?”

“I do; over at the big house there.” She pointed back in the direction she had come from. Then she raised a brow. “Hang on, do you know Tomoe by chance?”

The mermaid nodded enthusiastically. “She’s one of my younger sisters! You must be her human she keeps talking about; you’re very cute.”

Ran went a shade of pink. “O-oh, thankyou. You’re quite pretty yourself.”

“Hey, I wondered where you got to.”

Tomoe had swam up from their cove area, and almost seemed a bit annoyed Ran was with her sister. “I see you’ve met Lisa.”

“Oh this is Lisa.” Ran smiled on the outside, but inside she suddenly felt a bit weird. Granted she had recently found out they were paired together by proxy, in which she had no right to feel the way she did. “Sadly I wasn’t the human she was looking for. I think I was right in my joking around.”

Tomoe looked at Lisa as if being surprised with this information. “Really? And you made such a huge deal about me having ties to the surface world. And here you are looking for a human.”

“Not just any human, my human. The cutest human to ever exist.” Lisa ignored the jab at her expense. “I haven’t seen her in a bit though. She usually sees me around this time. Do you know her? She lives in the same house as you.”

“Oh, god yeah I should’ve seen that one coming.” Ran scratched behind her ear. “She’s been pretty sick. She maybe couldn’t tell you. But later in the afternoon she seems to feel better so maybe check later for her. If she doesn’t come out by the time I get back I’ll send her out okay?”

Lisa seemed satisfied with the response and nodded enthusiastically. “Okay, that sounds good enough to me! I hope she is okay though; she told me that you both are pretty healthy.”

Ran gave a nod and a smile. “Might just be something she ate, or she caught something when we went into town. I’ve pushed to go get it sorted but she thinks she knows what’s wrong so I wont push anymore.”

“Alright, well I wont keep you both on your little date.” Lisa gave a wink before sinking below the surface and then she was gone.

Ran folded her arms and stole a glance of her house. “Moca is gonna get it when I get home. She teased me for years about you and then I find out she’s been sneaking out to see a Mermaid too?”

“Yeah, her and Lisa.” Tomoe laughed though. “I’m glad that we can at least be a little more open about it all I guess.”

Ran finally relaxed and waded into the water a little bit. “That’s true. I can see why you would end up with Lisa in the end though. She’s beautiful.”

Tomoe’s ears pricked slightly to the undertone of her statement. “Did that information make you uneasy?”

Ran sighed and moved forward to be bust height to allow Tomoe to float in closer. She felt arms around her and Tomoe leant her face on her shoulder; she instantly wrapped her arms around and pulled her aquarian friend in. “A little. But it’s fine. I guess it’s just the difference we have on what we consider normal.”

Tomoe nodded and squeezed her arms a little more. “I hope so. I don’t want you to feel weird constantly. Like I said before, I would chose you if I could.”

Ran’s heart skipped a beat, before she swallowed hard to distract herself from those thoughts. She let go of Tomoe and then gestured to the cove; Tomoe nodded and started to swim over slowly. But still too fast for Ran to catch up with even with all her energy put into her strokes.

“You sure you’re okay?” Tomoe asked as they curled up on the small beach front together. “I feel like I said something wrong.”

“No, you didn’t. Honestly I’m just compiling some thoughts together.” Ran grabbed Tomoe’s hand to hold gently. “Actually, I wanted to ask a question.”

“Yeah?”

She looked up at the blue eyes glistening in her direction, and she gave a small smile before speaking. “When you said that once you find your partner for life, it reminded me of a penguin. They give the partner they want a rock. And in some way, that’s how someone here choses; we give a ring with a diamond. So I was curious if you guys did the same thing.”

“We do. There’s a very special flower that blooms white, and when we give it to the one we want to court it turns the colour of our hair. I don’t understand how but it’s kind of a tie to both somehow.” Tomoe gave a smile at Ran’s eyes widening slightly. “There’s a lot of plants underwater that you maybe have never seen.”

“Now I wish I could. I love flowers a lot.” She squeezed Tomoe’s hand a bit tighter. “I made up a little area at the house that’s just flowers to look after.”

“I’d like to see that.” Tomoe pressed her nose against Ran’s temple. “I can always see if that’s possible.”

“Do you think you would want to be up here now?” Ran was quiet in her approach, but her heart seemed like it was thumping loudly. “You’d have to put up with Moca on top of me if you did.”

“I don’t think it would be so bad. As long as I’d be with you.”

Ran had to look away as her cheeks started to go red.


	4. Chapter 4

“You sure you’re alright to go? I can vouch for you if you’d rather stay home tonight.”

Ran was pinning up the hair on her left side; red streak on display. Moca shook her head as she preened the black dress she was wearing; shuffling her chest in the cups a bit before making her chest look presentable.

“It’s fine. It’s just a little weight gain. But no way am I letting you go there alone. Not when the creepy guy is probably going to be there.” Moca smiled and slipped her shoes on. “Besides if I do get sick we have an excuse to bail.”

“True. Though dad is gonna arrive later on so we need to at least stay til he gets there and is around long enough to take over.” Ran got up, adjusted her dress and slid her shoes on before joining her cousin downstairs.

“Well, our ride is here; ready to pretend to care about people for money?” Moca smirked and Ran nodded with a chuckle as the driver opened the door for them.

From the seaside; Tomoe and Lisa were both watching cautiously. They had both been told earlier that week that their human friends had to leave for an important night, but they seemed more in awe of how the women had to dress.

Tomoe puffed her cheeks a little. “They both seemed like they’re dressing to be courted.”

Lisa gave a grin. “Are you jealous?”

“N-no, just worried. Aren’t you worried about Moca having weird humans trying to court her?”

Lisa gave a shake of her head. “I trust my human. We’re mates for life already.”

Tomoe stared at her sister; mouth slightly agape. “Wait…waitwaitwaitwait. Hold up. How is that even possible?!”

Lisa pointed to herself. “I gave her a flower, and then we…you know.”

“Is that why you were so aggressive and then not all that week?” Tomoe shook her head. “I can’t believe you’ve hidden a whole relationship and now mating courtship from me. Ran told me they can’t change….so that means you?”

Lisa nodded. “Yeah, and I don’t regret it. Kaoru is going to take the throne anyway and I haven’t felt this way about anyone or anything before.” She shuffled around in the water to her sister’s other side. “And if you’re so worried about what you saw just now, maybe you should think about just telling her how you really feel. Your human cares about you. I could tell when we first met. She was jealous.”

Tomoe bit her lip in response.

*---*

Ran stood with Moca; champagne glass in hand and pretending to listen to the creeper guy talk to her about the foundations of the life expectancy of…something. She would just smile and bring the glass to her lips politely. Moca hovered so he couldn’t ask her anything inappropriate or off with company around; however there were others coming over to engage in conversation.

“Sorry to interrupt, but would you mind getting us refills?” Ran gestured to her empty glass and grabbed Moca’s before handing them over. “Strawberry Champagne for me, a water for my cousin. Thanks.”

Moca kept her grip on Ran’s hand as the trio who had approached them; but she wore her big fake smile as always. “Nice to see you guys as always.”

“Nice to see you too. Are you okay though? You look a bit pale.” One of the men stated softly.

Moca waved him off. “Yeah I’m okay. My girlfriend likes to experiment with food and sometimes I just eat til I’m sick.”

Ran went to question her sentence, but then caught onto what she was doing. The trio seemed to be more interested in her love life than proposing anything else.

Ran saw her creep coming back with drinks in hand, and faked her own smile as she took the glasses. “Thanks, really appreciate it.”

“No problem. So, do you plan to be attached to her hip all night or am I able to steal you away for some proposals?” He tried to look suave but his raise brow made him look more sinister than anything.

“Oh, If it’s for work then we can stay here. My girlfriend wouldn’t appreciate it if I gave off the wrong vibes.” Ran inwardly hoped that she didn’t give off the vibe that she was lying.

He seemed to look around cautiously. “Oh, is she here now?”

“No, she had other business to take care of.”

“So then it won’t be a big deal then; if she doesn’t know then it won’t hurt her.”

“No, but it would hurt me a great deal.”

Ran inwardly sighed in relief from the sound of the third voice; the man turned to see her father standing behind him, stern look and hands loosely behind his back.

“Right, er have a good night sir.” He awkwardly bowed before walking off briskly.

“Hi dad, thank you for the save.” They moved to hug gently before Moca also turned to give a quick hug and turn back to the trio; hands now separate from her cousin’s.

“You know I’ll come if you’re in trouble.” He pushed his glasses up his nose before looking around. “That and that little pest stops us from chatting to more people every time. We’re all here on business in the end, not for recreation.”

“Yeah exactly. So, shall we go and do what we were supposed to?” Ran held out her hand to her father, who nodded and took it graciously.

“Let’s go have some fun shall we?”

*---*

“Oh man, you and your dad are scary when you get together. I almost forgot how it was.” Moca pulled her shoes off and carried them to the door.

“We could’ve gone worse, honestly.” Ran took her shoes off too and chucked them through the front door. “I’ll pick them up later. I need to do something.”

Moca smiled and placed her free hand on her hip. “Gonna go ruin that dress? Naughty naughty.”

“Shut it Moca. I’ll come back soon.”

She turned and made her way to the sea, running as well as she could on the sand. She wouldn’t even know if Tomoe could tell she was there, but she figured if she splashed into the water and attempted to swim in the stupid dress maybe she would somehow know.

So she did; treading water and watching the red fabric lifting and swirling around, but it was dark so she couldn’t see much of anything around her.

She saw red break the water shortly after to her left, and Tomoe’s head poked out with slight confusion.

“What are you doing in the water like this?” She instantly moved to grab her to help her tread water. “Come on, it’s too cold for you to be in here at this time.”

“Stop, I came to see you.” Ran gripped her shoulders tightly. “It’s important.”

Tomoe stopped and looked at her expectantly. “What is it? Was it something to do with tonight?”

“Yes and No.” Ran breathed in slowly to gather herself and try slow her heartbeat. “Tonight made me realise I’d been trying to ignore feelings I’ve been having and I can’t anymore.”

“Feelings?”

“Yes, feelings about you.” Ran looked away a few moments as she began to heat up. “I have feelings for you. I have for a while. But I didn’t think that it was possible for us to be together.”

It was Tomoe’s turns to go pink and look away. “I…I have feelings for you aswell. I thought I was coming on a bit strong and I didn’t want to push you away. And when you went funny over our whole process I figured that maybe you were doing the same thing.”

Ran looked into her eyes, and felt her face burning as she lifted a hand lift to Tomoe’s cheek. She moved her face closer, and Tomoe seemed to pick up on it as their lips met gently. 

“W-was that okay?” She asked as she pulled back from the mermaid; her face burning harder than ever and her heart beating a mile.

Tomoe’s eyes flickered back open and she gave a smile. “That was nice, yes. Can I have another one?”

Ran gave a small smile before moving back in and kissing a little bit harder than the first time. She felt Tomoe tilt her head so they could deepen it. Ran went as far as to nibble on Tomoe’s lower lip cheekily before they broke away again.

Tomoe grinned in response; her arms tightening around Ran and keeping her held close. “That was really nice; I liked that.”

“Me too…” Ran rested her forehead against Tomoe’s; not being able to get rid of her grin. “I wish we could stay like this forever.”

“Oh! I was trying to get you out, hang on.” Tomoe gave a laugh and moved back towards the shoreline, just enough so Ran could stand on her own. “I too wish we could but you’ll catch a cold if you stay in here for too much longer. And you’ll ruin your dress.”

“The dress can be replaced, I don’t care that much.” Ran didn’t let go of Tomoe’s shoulders despite being able to stand. “I’m glad I didn’t wait til the morning to do this.”

“Me too. It was weird to feel the disturbance in the water at first but I had a hunch it was you. I was waiting for you so I could tell you my feelings first though.” Tomoe then gave a look just she remembered something. “Can you wait for a few more minutes?! I need to get you something.”

Ran nodded and let go to allow her mermaid to dive down. She wrapped her arms around herself and instantly missed the warm feeling of being held. And then wished that she could’ve taken Tomoe back to the house with her and sighed. She didn’t think about how she was going to feel after this and wasn’t sure if she liked it.

Tomoe came up moments later, and seemed to be suddenly shy and almost withdrawn looking.

“I was going to do this tomorrow but like you said, it’s important.” She kept her hands down in the water for a few moments, before delicately raising them to show a small white flower. It was an odd cross between coral and a mushroom; plump with fat petals, and seemed to be squishy. “This is the entwine plant. If you are wanting to be mine; accepting this will be the first step.”

Ran’s eyes enlarged; she was in awe of the plant in front of her. She was slow in lifting her hands; as if questioning if she should go ahead with it or not. It didn’t go unnoticed by Tomoe however, who seemed to pout.

“Do you not want to do this?”

Ran shook her head and brought her hands up to take the plant in her hands. It was as squishy as it looked, and suddenly the petals burst into an ombre of red to black coating. She guffawed as it almost shivered after being coloured in her hands as Tomoe took hers away; her face had shifted to a huge grin.

“It’s so cute…I’ve never even read about anything like this before in my life.” Ran said with a heavy breath; her eyes glistening at the sight. “It’s almost like it absorbs some of the holder’s DNA or something, but as to how…its fascinating.”

“It will need to be in water obviously, but it’ll react to your moods now too. It’s like it wants to be a pet; but only comes to life when both lovers hold it.” Tomoe moved closer to her. “You should get in and get dry, and put it in a jar or something.”

“You’re right. I’ll come see you tomorrow, same time, same place?” Ran leant in to steal one last kiss before wading out of the water and heading towards the house.

Tomoe watched until she was gone, before slipping under the water and spinning a few times. She had finally done it; she had started her courtship with someone she loved. And now it would be a steady climb towards where she would ask the final question. But like everything she had noticed about Ran; she had to move slowly and not push. Her human was still overly cautious, and seemed to want to think about everything before making a decision.

She would have to go to her resources to initiate what humans called dating.


	5. Chapter 5

Tomoe was sitting on the sand in their small cove area; giggling as Ran was massaging and stroking at her side fins. She was stretching them out; and running her fingers down the blue vein-like details in her crimson iridescent webbing.

She peaked up to see her mermaid partner giggling uncontrollably, and she gave a small grin in response. “Is that tickling you?”

“A little bit; yeah.” Tomoe’s tail shivered slightly from the lingering touch. “No one has ever touched my fins like that before.”

Ran shuffled up to her side and leant in to kiss her cheek; almost in a possessive manner. Ran figured that her actions were as a result of her having exclusive access to feelings and emotions.

“What about your larger fin? Do you think it would react the same way?” Ran trailed her fingers gently down the scales until she couldn’t reach anymore; but it caused Tomoe to flick her tail in response.

“I would say it’ll definitely be the same, if not worse.” She moved her hand to stroke and tuck Ran’s hair behind her ear gently. “Hate to interrupt but you’re beautiful.”

Ran made a noise and went bright red. “Where did that come from? And what are you talking about; you’re very much the beautiful one. You’re unlike anyone up here in the surface.”

Tomoe grinned and gripped at Ran’s chin to pull her in for a kiss. “Does that make you feel weird when I speak of you like that? I’m speaking the truth and the truth only.”

Ran puffed her cheeks out in slight annoyance at the remark. “it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t make me feel weird when you say it. Specially when you’re so bold like that.”

Tomoe smiled and hopped closer to snuggle into her side. “But you’ve given me permission to say so, therefore I will. And you’ll just have to deal with it.”

Ran rolled her eyes and finally yielded with a smile. “Alright, fine. I guess I’ll get used to it.”

The mermaid then shifted to lay her head down on her human’s lap, and laced her fingers together on her stomach. “Can we read that story now? I want to keep listening to your voice and I miss it when we read stories together.”

“Are you sure you want to read The Little Mermaid again? I can read you others.” Ran looked down, but Tomoe’s face spoke volumes about the question. “Alright then, we’ll start with that one then. Make sure you’re comfortable because this will be a while.”

Tomoe grinned like a small child about to get icecream.

*---*

“So, how long did you take before approaching your human to mate?”

Lisa looked at her sister with raised eyebrows as they were curled up on their beds in their shared room. She then bit her lip and grinned. “Not very long. We had established we were very serious once I gave her the flower. It was about three sunsets after? Why’s that?”

“I’m just curious if it’s a problem if you wait longer.” Tomoe pursed her lips. “I have been feeling a bit weird inside when I’m around her; and I don’t know if it’s because I want to just have her and finish the bond or if it’s because we’re not rushing that it’s having an adverse effect on me.”

Lisa gave a giggle and nodded. “Yeah I think it’s the carnal feeling. You just want to have her, and that’s perfectly normal. Humans feel the same way, but they have more constraint over their urges than us I think.”

Tomoe twiddled her fingers and sat in deep thought. “Should I just ask and see how it goes? But then my human doesn’t seem as ready to jump in as yours is. Even if they are related and were raised at the same time they seem very opposite. What If she thinks I’m being pushy?”

“I don’t think she’ll think you’re pushy. She’s probably getting used to the fact of you guys together. And she seems like the type that holds these things in very high regards. But If you want to know you’re just going to have to ask.” Lisa ran her fingers through her locks. “The worst that could happen is she says she’s not ready to.”

“You’re right.” Tomoe tapped her chin. “I’m curious though; what happened that week with you? I know you were a bit hard to deal with.”

“I think that’s an understatement.” Lisa shook her head. “We decided that we would avoid each other for that week. I was scared because you get super aggressive and at least we can handle a bit of roughhousing. They’re not as durable as we are so I figured trying to deal with the emotions would be easier.”

Tomoe rung her fingers in her hands; her face changing as she mulled over their conversation. She slowly looked up to see Lisa staring at her expectantly; and then giggled.

“Oh, right. We’re going to the surface.” Tomoe sheepishly pushed herself off her bed and Lisa casually circled her before shooting upwards in a fast pace.

Tomoe mustered all her power; catching up to her sister and grabbing her tail playfully and pulling her back. She gave a squeal before laughing and grabbing Tomoe’s side fins to hang on as her younger sister powered through the currants and up to break the surface. Lisa let go and popped up beside her with a low whistle.

“You’re getting really powerful with your age. Wish I got that instead.” She rolled her eyes before paddling towards the shore.

“Yeah but we knew this was gonna happen before you decided to take a human mate; So it’s kind of your fault.” Tomoe caught up with her and grinned.

“I hate it when you’re right.” Lisa stopped shortly after and pointed to the shoreline; where they could see their humans. “What are they doing?”

“Uh…li-tter? Picking. I think that’s what Ran said anyway.” Tomoe tapped her chin. “It’s the bad stuff their food comes in usually and humans just dump it. Which is annoying for them since their family…owns the island?”

“Wooooow, I didn’t even know that.”

They both swam closer; Moca leant up, and gave them a wave as she noticed them coming. Ran shortly looked up to see what she was doing, and then followed up with a coy smile as she saw the mermaids coming over.

“You’re early.” Moca states casually, wading into the water enough for Lisa to give her a hug and begin pecking her lips repeatedly.

Tomoe and Ran both looked away with a grimace, before meeting each other enough to share an embrace. Ran then looked away from her in a sheepish manner; suddenly embarrassed by something. Tomoe cocked her head and pursed her lips.

“Are you alright?” Tomoe moved a hand to tuck Ran’s red streak behind her ear.

Ran merely nodded in response; saying nothing. She decided to look at Moca, who had stopped the excessive PDA with her partner and was grinning back in response.

“Lisa and I are going to go to our secret place; don’t do anything we wouldn’t do.” Her grin grew wider as Ran glared at her in response.

They both turned and walked toward the house, so Ran and Tomoe decided to move to their little cove for some privacy. Ran held onto her own hands as they made their way over. Tomoe sensed the tension between them as she swam around and allowed Ran to sit on the slightly submerged ledge so she could lean on it in front.

“Are you okay? You seem to have something on your mind.” Tomoe started, grabbing Ran’s arm gently and massaged her bicep with her thumb.

“I…it’s embarrassing.” Ran went slightly pink as she looked like she was finding the words to say. “Moca told me that her and Lisa…”

“Yeah, Lisa told me that too. Who woulda thought, huh?” Tomoe smiled to try and break the tension, but it shortly fell when Ran still looked uneasy. “Does it make you uncomfortable to think about?”

“Not really…just…” She sighed and finally met Tomoe’s gaze.

The mermaid could see something different in her eyes; and then she felt the feeling in the pit of her stomach once more. She moved closer, her lips close to Ran’s ear and she breathed out in the shell. She felt Ran shiver against where her chest was resting on her human’s shoulder.

“Do you want to?” Tomoe whispered as best she could; she moved back to look into Ran’s eyes expectantly.

Ran bit her lip, and said nothing before standing up. Tomoe pushed off the rock and then just stared as Ran took her swim shorts and shirt off; now in only her bikini as she sat back down and stretched her arms out towards the mermaid. She shifted back into closer proximity; allowing herself to be embraced. She moved her face close so they could share a kiss, and Ran seemed to melt into her. Tomoe moved back; holding her human tightly and bending her tail to act as a seat for Ran, and as they continued to deepen their kiss to the point Tomoe could breath into her mouth, slowly lowered them both down into the water.

*---*

“Are you doing okay?”

Tomoe was laying on her back in the sand; Ran curled up tightly in her side and holding her close. She traced a welted bite mark she had made on Ran’s shoulder gently; feeling guilty about the intensity they had shared.

Ran nodded and squeezed her arms tighter. “I am. A little sore, but I’m okay.” She lifted her head so they could share a gaze. “I just wish I could take you back to the house so we could continue this.”

“Me too; I feel like it would be slightly more comfortable without the tail and shells too.” She gave a chuckle. “I’m sorry if I hurt you.”

Ran shook her head. “We knew it was going to be abnormal long before we even got to this stage. You shouldn’t have to apologise for something we knew was going to happen.” She sat up, stretching a little and making a small noise as she stretched. “So what are we going to do now? You said this is about a week before you go to normal right?”

Tomoe sat up and nodded slowly. “I guess we just wait it out. It’s what Lisa did; even if she was horrid. We get super aggressive and rough when we aren’t…you know.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Ran frowned slightly at the idea. “It would make more sense if we catch up twice a day right? Once in the morning so you can concentrate, and then once at night so you can sleep.”

“I could potentially hurt you. Really bad. I don’t want that.”

“And I don’t want you to suffer through this.” Ran shook her head. “We’re together now, right? The whole point of that is to care for each other equally. Let me help you.”

Tomoe moved to nuzzle into Ran’s neck with her nose and snuggled in. “Only if you’re sure you can handle it. Because I wont be able to stop once it starts again.”

“I know, and I’m sure. Just trust me on this one.” She smiled and grabbed Tomoe’s chin to pull her into a small kiss. “We’ll just have to work out when we should meet up depending on the extent of your mood I think. See how it folds tonight and go from there.”

“You’re so good to me. Now I really wish I was just up here; it would make our life so much easier.” Tomoe smiled at her love, but in her head she was thinking about a plan she had been mulling over for a while.

She just hoped it would be taken well now they were bonded.


	6. chapter six

Tomoe grimaced as she held Ran the next morning.

All she could focus on was the dry blood on her neck, welts across her shoulder blades and scratches that broke the skin all over her back and down her sides. The pained cries was echoing in her head from the previous activity and she felt awful.

This was the love of her life; and she had become a complete animal as a result. Lisa was right; it was way too dangerous for them to continue this.

“Tomoe?” Ran’s voice was small, and understandably short of breath. “Are you okay?”

“Of course I’m not okay; I near on ripped you apart!” She almost felt offended at the question. “Look at you! I can’t believe I let you talk me into this. I’m a lot bigger for a mermaid to begin with so it should’ve been a big indicator when Lisa refused to do this.”

“It’s just surface wounds, they’ll heal.” Ran stroked Tomoe’s cheek gently; trying to send a reassuring smile. “I love you.”

Tomoe felt her heart melting; her eyes getting glassy. “I love you too. So much. That’s why I think we just wait it out til I’m back to normal. I can’t handle doing that to you over and over.”

Ran went back in to cuddling in, and merely nodded against her lover’s shoulder. She was so exhausted that she couldn’t find it in her to argue.

Tomoe stroked Ran’s head gently, leaving slow and gentle kisses on her crown to soothe her. She wanted to leave her happy; but instead she would be watching her leave in pain. “Hey, did you want me to carry you back to the house? Or do you think the water will make it more painful?”

“I’ll be okay to walk there; I don’t want you to feel guiltier than you already do.” Ran lifted her head and attempted to stand; wincing as she rolled onto her hips and up off the sand. She looked down at the mess her legs were in and she bit her lip. “I’m going to jump in the shower before Moca sees me though.”

Tomoe looked away at the rest of the mess she made and shuffled into the water like a dog that had done something very wrong.

“Please don’t feel bad. You warned me you wouldn’t be able to control yourself the longer it went on.” Ran shuffled slowly to the water to cup Tomoe’s face in her hands. “Please? Just promise me you’ll look after yourself for the next few days and not hurt yourself.”

Tomoe grabbed her left hand, pulled it away enough to kiss her palm. “I promise. And please let Moca take care of you if you need it. I want you to be okay when I come back up.”

Ran smiled and slowly bent down to kiss her. She kept it going as long as they could and slowly pulled away. “it’ll be over before we know it.”

Tomoe nodded in response, and watched her leave the cove before diving down and powering down at an angle before coming to the ocean floor.

It was going to be over; and she knew of someone that could end this for her.

*---*

She came to a huge shell; glistening with a deep oil slicked iridescent colour. Tomoe inspected it for a few moments before slowly gliding inside and making her way to the center.

“Hello?” She called out; the noises she could hear suddenly stopped. “Is this where the sorceress lives?”

“W-who wants to know…?” The voice in response was soft and almost frightened.

Tomoe came around a corner to a large open area. There was some kind of cauldron in the middle; bubbling away. Vials and beakers filled shelves; and near them was a frightened half woman-half violet jellyfish clutching a vial to her chest. Her long black hair was slowly flowing in the water to match her tentacles. Her violet eyes were wide and focus more on Tomoe’s tail than her face.

“Sorry, to startle you; my sister said you’d be here today.” Tomoe scratched the back of her head sheepishly. “you’re Rinko, right?”

The jellyfish woman; Rinko, gave a nod in response. “Y-you must be Tomoe…Ako holds you in very high regards. What do I owe the pleasure?”

“Some company for a while. Maybe some advice?” She sat and curled around a rock Rinko gestured for her to sit on.

“Sure; I will do my best to help you…” Rinko slowly poured her vial, and waited a few moments and smiled when her green concoction became a nice fuchsia. “What is it that you want to know?”

“Start with basics first. How long have you been here for? I would’ve thought we’d see you out and about at some point.”

Rinko shook her head but seemed to smile at the question. Eye contact wasn’t something that was happening however. “I prefer my own company. It was chance that I met Ako; but I’m glad. She said you and your sisters are very nice but I was scared to come out and visit.”

“Understandable if it’s like that.” Tomoe smiled at her and began to watch the cauldron curiously. “What are you working on?”

“O-oh, well…” Rinko wrung her hands a few times. “A serum to make sea creatures able to walk on land. To be honest it’s finish aside from one more ingredient, but I have yet to find a willing volunteer-“

“I’ll do it.” Tomoe cut her off a little bit too eagerly; however this seemed to work much better than her just asking out of the blue. “What’s the last ingredient?”

Rinko looked up at her face finally; her eyebrows raising. “Are you sure? It’ll be a very intense process; and you’ll have to provide me with something very strong.”

Tomoe nodded. “I’m sure. The love of my life is a human; I want to be with her and I’ll do anything to be there. What do I need to give you?”

Rinko bobbed over and sat beside her. “You have two options; you give up your love for her and win it back up there…”

“Or?”

“Or I’ll have to take her love of you from her and you have the same time to make her fall for you again.”

Tomoe breathed out and looked down, contemplating which route to go. Finally she nodded a few times and looked back up with a determined expression. “Take my love. I’ve fallen in love with a human easily once; I’m sure I can do it again.”

Rinko nodded; and floated back to her shelving. “T-then lets do it. But I must warn you. You’ll only have seven sunsets to fall in love again. Any memory you have in which your feelings are strong will be gone; but will come back only if you start to feel again. If you can truly confess your love on the last sunset; you’ll be human forever. And get all your memories back. If not, you will be here forever; and all of it will be erased. No love, no memories.”

“Okay, I understand.” Tomoe inwardly was worried about the price she was paying; but if it meant her and Ran could be together and she wouldn’t hurt her ever again, she was willing to do anything for it.

*---*

“Not going back out to see Tomoe?”

Ran looked up from her laptop; Moca was looking at her with that grin she got when she was ready to tease. Ran shook her head in response and decided to ignore the grin.

“No. She said she needed to help her sisters with something for a few days. I agreed family comes first and I have a lot of work to do anyway.” She wasn’t about to tell Moca she herself had basically been mauled in an intimate moment; not yet anyway.

“That’s fair. Lisa has been pretty distant lately too.” Moca seemed to pout a little bit. “I was starting to feel a bit better too.”

“Finally. It’s been weeks.” Ran closed her laptop and placed it on the table; replacing it with a coffee in hand. “Viral infection?”

“Seemed like it. Just couldn’t shake it I guess.” She shrugged. “It’s weird to just not see them for a few days huh?”

Ran nodded as she took a sip of her coffee. Shortly after she thought she had saw a flash of light from the corner of her eye outside on the beach.

“Did you-“

“Yeah I saw it.”

Ran and Moca both stood up, put items down and grabbed their nightgowns and rushed out the door towards what they’d seen. At this point they shouldn’t have been surprised at the workings of the island, but they still managed to be.

On the beach; was an array of red hair strewn around a seemingly naked body. Ran instantly recognised the hair and began to run as fast as possible through the sand. She reached the body; and dropped to her knees to grab her shoulder and pull her over.

It was indeed Tomoe; eyes shut and she was very naked. Her heart birthmark had transferred over to her hip bone; and then Ran had to look away as her sight levelled with the rest of that area. She instead tried to focus on her face as she tried to gently wake her.

“Tomoe? Can you hear me?” She cooed, stroking her face and holding her torso up in her lap. “Come on, wake up.”

“Oh, she has legs?” Moca enquired as she finally caught up; and also looked away when she saw the full picture. “Well now I know why you guys weren’t planning to meet up at all. And here you were berating me about-“

“Yes I know; now isn’t the time.” She cut Moca off; and then looked hopeful as she heard Tomoe groan a little and open her eyes slowly. “Oh thank god, you’re alright.”

“Where-“ Tomoe’s voice was hoarse, and she was slowly adjusting her eyesight to her surroundings. “Where am I?”

“You’re on the shore. You washed up from the looks of it.” Ran let her go and allowed her to sit up slowly and continue to look around. She then pulled her dressing gown off and offered it to her. “Put this on until we can sort something out for you.”

Tomoe looked at it, and then allowed Ran to help her put it on and then tie it up. Tomoe then noticed her legs and began to stroke them gingerly. “It worked. It actually worked.”

Ran looked at Moca, who bit her lip in response and then noticed Tomoe lifting the gown again to inspect the rest of her lower half. “Oh, maybe look at that when we get you back into the house yeah?”

She nodded in response and then looked around a bit. Ran decided to grab the closest arm and place it over her shoulders to help the woman to her feet. Tomoe seemed to not be ready to shift her full weight and staggered a little; Ran barely catching her but trying her hardest to stabilise them both. Moca then went under the other arm and they both steadied her until she could work out her balance.

Tomoe now stood almost a head higher than them both; and the nightgown barely covered her hips from how wide set her hips were. She just seemed to be quite large for someone so thin.

“Of course she’s big as a human.” Moca rolled her eyes as they patiently helped Tomoe walk. “Then again you said she was a weirdly big mermaid right?”

“Yeah, so I guess that just carries over.” Ran said softly; and all three fell silent as they slowly made their way to the house.

Once inside they directed Tomoe to the couch; sitting her down and then both standing there with hands on hips or cupping their chin while shooting each other looks.

“How are you feeling?” Moca cocked her head and Tomoe looked up.

“Okay, a bit tired though.” She rubbed one of her eyes. “Everything feels so hazy.”

“Maybe we should sleep on this one and discuss it fresh in the morning?” Ran suggested.

Moca nodded and they both moved to help Tomoe up. “Good plan. But we’ll have to help you up the stairs.”

“Stairs?” Tomoe enquired, and then looked at their staircase leading to the bedrooms. “Oh I see, that’s what a stairs is.”

“We’ll just go slow okay?” Ran said softly, and smiled as she watched Tomoe getting happier the easier she got the hang of it all.

Once they reached the top, Moca stretched and yawned. “Alright, see you guys in the morning. Maybe. I want to sleep in.”

Ran shook her head as she closed her bedroom door behind her, and she grabbed Tomoe’s wrist gently to guide her to her own bedroom.

“We don’t have any spare beds; so I hope it’s alright that you share with me for now.” Ran allowed her to have a look around as she closed the door gently, and moved to shuffle through a box in her closet full of old clothing. She managed to find a pair of boxers and a shirt before turning around to see her picking up the alarm clock and looking at it with a creased brow. “Um, also probably want to put these on to sleep.”

Tomoe put it back down, and moved to take the garments from her. “How do I wear them?”

Ran made the notion of her thinking she should’ve forseen the question and helped her; awkwardly as she didn’t want to stare at her too long, to put them on and hang her dressing gown on the hook on the door.

“Thankyou.” Tomoe then stood and held her hands sheepishly. “I’m sorry that I just kind of dropped on you like this without warning.”

“It’s okay, don’t apologise.” Ran went to make a grab at her hand, but Tomoe seemed to pull back awkwardly and she recoiled slightly. “Here, let me help you get in.”

Once both in bed, she turned the side lamp off and shuffled down into the covers and stared up at the roof. This should have been a nice encounter; something they had talked and dreamed about. And yet something felt off. Like something was missing.

She felt a hand gently touch her waist, and she decided to just close her eyes and try sleep despite her mind racing from what was going on with Tomoe and her sudden appearance as a human.


	7. Chapter Seven

Tomoe had woken up first; but once her eyes opened she had stopped moving and tried to figure out what she was currently feeling. She knew she felt warm from the position she was in, but she wasn’t exactly sure if it was just their body heat transferring or not.

Ran was fast asleep; and seemingly rolled into Tomoe’s embrace during the night. It seemed like neither had felt it happen. Tomoe used her free hand to push Ran’s strap off her exposed shoulder; bringing the large welted bitemark into view. She stroked her larger thumb across; and her mind almost snapped at the memory that came crashing back. However it was fragmented; she only caught a glimpse of her doing the biting and Ran crying for her to stop.

She pulled her hand away, and seemed to suddenly feel guilty from the memory. But she didn’t move until Ran stirred a little and seemed confused they had been cuddling with each other. She then gave a small smile and rubbed her eye.

“Have you been awake long?” She asked quietly, shifting to sit up slightly.

Tomoe shook her head and forced a smile back. “No. But I didn’t want to wake you up. You seem really tired from yesterday.”

“You should’ve woken me up, I wouldn’t have minded.” Ran, without a second thought decided to lean in to try a give her a kiss. Tomoe pulled her head back like a cat avoiding a pat; though her face seemed really confused as to why she was doing it.

Ran then moved back to her sitting position; and tried not to show the slight offense on her face. Tomoe then sat up and gestured to the bite. “Was that from yesterday?”

“Yeah, it was. I think that’s why I’m a little worn out. But it’s fine.”

Tomoe then looked put off by the comment. “How is it fine? You were begging me to stop. That’s all the memory I got back.” She made a grab at Ran’s shirt, pulling it up to see the claw raking marks down her sides. “Yeah, definitely wasn’t my mind playing tricks on me.”

“You didn’t hurt me in the way you think.” Ran bit her lip; wondering if she should come out with it or just let the subject hopefully fall. She chose the latter. “Just, trust me when I say you didn’t mean it.”

Tomoe noticed that Ran had seemed to shut off and that the conversation was done. She sighed and nodded before sitting up and both of them getting out of bed in silence.

Tomoe was first to leave the room; making her way down the stairs slowly and seeing Moca already in the kitchen and leaning on the counter. There was a strange noise coming from that area, but Tomoe decided to ignore it as she came to stand with her. Moca seemed surprised.

“You’ve got the hang of walking at least.” She stated, setting up some cups and placing coffee in them. “How do you feel this morning?”

Tomoe seemed to only half hear her, the weird noise was extremely loud beside her. “Um, yeah okay. My memory is pretty shot right now.”

“Well, once Ran comes down we can try and go through what happened.” Moca turned back to pour the boiled water into the cups, and her cousin suddenly came down as if enticed by the smell. “Bout time you came down.”

“I had something to take care of.” She said flatly, stretching and reacting as she felt her back cracking. “It’s weird you’re waking up so early so suddenly. Who are you and what have you done with my cousin?”

“Abducted by aliens. Have your coffee and sit.” She grinned and gestured for Tomoe to take one before they all sat together. Ran sat opposite them both; eyes downward focused. Moca turned to Tomoe. “So, how about we start from the beginning. Do you remember anything before being washed up?”

“Well; I remember going to seek out the sorceress.” Tomoe stared at her cup. “I just, can’t remember why. But I went to her to turn into a human. I had to give her something important in return; and I only have seven sunsets to get that back or I’ll go back. The memories of whatever it is are gone too. She said they’ll come back, if I can relearn what I gave away.”

Moca cupped her chin in thought, nodding along. The noise was getting louder as she moved. “Well it has to be something really good right?”

“It was love.” Ran said rather bluntly, taking a sip from her coffee but not looking up. “She gave her love for- she gave that up.”

Moca looked at her quizzically, but Tomoe looked expectantly. “You think? How did you come to that conclusion?”

Ran placed her cup down and looked up at her with an unreadable expression. She soon stood up and moved around the small coffee table, and gently straddled Tomoe’s lap; hands clasped around the larger woman’s now surprised face.

“If you want me to go you could just ask.” Moca stifled a laugh.

Ran shook her head and gestured. “Watch. Tomoe, move your head around in my hands.”

Tomoe tried, but other than a little wiggle she couldn’t. “You have an iron grip on my head looks like.”

“Exactly, so watch this.” Ran leant her face down; instantly Tomoe’s face began retreating, to the point her head was completely pushed into the headrest. She then felt her head move so Ran’s lips connected with her cheek.

Moca watched on and nodded another couple of times. “Oh I see, I see. That’s some powerful magic.”

Ran leant back, and let go of Tomoe’s face. “Obviously actions of deep intimacy seem to be affected. So far.”

“I wonder though if it’s just you.” Moca quizzed as Ran slid off to sit on the other side of Tomoe. “…can I try?”

“Moca-“ Ran went to snap, but Tomoe place a hand on her knee to stop her.

“It wont hurt to just try it.” She allowed Moca to take the same position; the noise she was hearing was almost deafening.

Moca tried to do the same action; the results were the same. She leant back and nodded for the third time. “That’s really weird but cool in a way. It’s like trying to put two magnets together with the negative ends.”

“But it at least confirms the theory.” Ran stated softly and stood up; her face scrunched up in thought. “Okay, so how about this question. From where do you think you remember up til? From now I mean.”

Tomoe allowed Moca to remove herself, and she leant forward to lean on her legs. “Well, I guess it starts to get hazy from when you moved back to here.”

“So not much is gone then.” Ran turned away, feeling her eyes get a bit watery. “But it’s enough to not come back at all.”

Tomoe looked at her back and swallowed hard. She suddenly felt a pit in her stomach; she had sacrificed a lot more than she expected. Her thoughts were then interrupted as the noise she had was getting too much for her to bear. “I hate to stop this serious moment, but something in here is buzzing loudly and it’s becoming hard to concentrate.”

Ran swivelled around and looked around. “What buzzing?”

“You…can’t hear it? It’s so loud-“ Tomoe cut herself off and looked at Moca; who shrugged. However, her stomach seemed to be looking a bit strange. “No, that can’t be right.”

“What’s wrong?” Moca creased her brow as the other woman just stared at her stomach.

Tomoe said nothing, and instead moved to lay her head on Moca’s stomach. Ran felt a twinge in her heart as a hand came up to rest on the side, and Tomoe smiled after a few silent moments. She lifted her head, and almost seemed to be acting like she should’ve realised.

“You’re right. No buzzing.” She poked at Moca a little bit, almost excited. “I was getting echolocation from here. You have a Merbaby.”

“That’s-“ Ran stopped herself. She was dumbfounded. “A Merbaby? But…how? When?”

“Well Ran, when a human and a Mermaid love each other very much-“

“Don’t. Don’t finish that sentence.” Ran was going pink; more to the thought that if it was true, she might be having the same thing in a few months time.

“About five months.” Tomoe responded confidently. “It’s a very happy baby too. It must’ve been calling out in response. But I just wasn’t aware I was sending signals in the first place.”

“Well it makes sense how you would just know we were outside.” Moca stated.

“Why didn’t you tell me about this?!” Ran suddenly exclaimed. “You made me think there was something seriously wrong with you all this time and it was just you hiding a whole other being _inside you!_ ”

“I thought I was fat too. I just figured it was easier.” Moca shrugged again and stared at her cousin. “Come on Aunty Ran, indoor voice.”

“Unbelievable.” Ran dropped her hands to her sides and huffed. She then noticed Tomoe was back to staring at Moca’s stomach and smiling. She then decided to just walk out the door.

“Ran-“ Moca was cut off as the front door slammed in her wake.

*---*

Ran had stripped her nightgown off and decided to just dip in the water in her underwear to cool off. She should’ve been happy at the thought of Tomoe being up on the surface with them; with her. But it was pointless when it was a one sided affair. She slapped the water in frustration; she wasn’t sure what she was more angry at currently.

“Oi, stop that.” Ran stopped to see Lisa poking her head out of the water. “I wondered what the fuss was. It’s a weird swimming move if I ever saw one.”

“Sorry, I’m just letting off steam.” Ran decided to float back until she could sit on the sand above water. Lisa took a seat beside her and curled her tail around them both. “I don’t know what I’m more frustrated over; Tomoe being up here but not remembering we’re together, or Moca having a baby and convincing me she was sick.”

“So Tomoe did it huh?” Lisa looked away, before realising the other part of the sentence. “Wait, Moca has a baby? She didn’t tell me.”

Ran looked at her guilty. “God I’m sorry, I just assumed she didn’t tell me and only me. Only just found out about it now because it was calling out to Tomoe.”

“So, it’s my baby?” Lisa then had a glint in her eye from the realisation. “I’m going to have a super adorable baby!”

Ran finally smiled and nodded with a small chuckle. “You know what? I agree. It’s going to be absolutely adorable.”

Lisa gave a giggle and hugged Ran tightly; rubbing their cheeks together. Ran could only allow her to hug her tightly and lavish in the happiness the Mermaid was radiating.

At the house; Tomoe was standing at the window and was able to see her sister doting on Ran. She then was confused. If Ran was out there with Lisa, then why did she try to kiss her in the morning? Something inside her said that it wasn’t what it looked like, but as to which part she wasn’t sure.

And then the whole baby saga. Surely if it was calling to her, then she had something to do with it right? Moca seemed pretty chilled out with her conversing with her stomach essentially; and it was plausible that they had been intimate a few times. Or did they? She wasn’t sure. She had no memories and definitely no feelings for either of them at this stage. All she knew was she had come up for one of them, but as to which she’d need to figure out. And soon.

“She’s coming back.” Tomoe stated shortly after; noticing Ran waving Lisa off, pulling her nightgown back on and making her way back.

“She does this sometimes. No need to worry.” Moca said flatly. “It’s easier for her to go and wait it out instead of trying to figure her emotions out.”

“Did I do something?” Tomoe placed a hand on her heart; feeling a twinge. “I feel like it’s my fault.”

Moca shook her head. “I wouldn’t say you did something; but I think it was just overwhelming you suddenly being up here.”

Ran soon entered the house and saw the other two staring at her. She suddenly looked down and gestured her pointed finger at Tomoe and swiped around to the staircase. “Could you come upstairs with me? I need you to see if any clothing fits so we can take you out shopping.”

Moca smiled and nodded in agreement; however her words went against that. “You mean you take her shopping. You’ll be surprised but your dad has given me a huge workload to do now I’m better. I have no time to go anywhere.”

Tomoe watched as the pale haired woman waved at them and shuffled towards the end of the hall and closing the end door behind her. She then followed Ran up the stairs and back into her room. There she opened the third door of the closet, and flicked through some items of clothing that seemed to have not been touched in a while. Ran then pulled a pair of black pants and a red button up shirt from their hangers and threw them on the bed.

“We’ll have to get you some proper underwear while we’re out so for now you might feel a bit strange until then.” Ran stated softly, moving to the ensuite. “I just need to change mine because they’re wet.”

“From being with my sister, right?” Tomoe meant for it to be simple statement, but Ran look at her quizzically.

“Well, yes. We just had a talk. But I was in the water to calm down.”

“Was it my fault?”

Ran sighed and moved back into the bedroom to face her. “Not your fault; I was just. Frustrated. Whether it was at you or Moca I’m not sure of, but it’s fine now. Give me five and if you’re stuck I’ll help you get changed okay?”

Tomoe nodded and watched her move to her bathroom and close the door. She decided she would at least try take her shirt off and try to work the buttons. She wanted to make this easier on them being here and invading their space for the meantime.

“Okay, I’m done. How’re you goin-“ Ran stopped and stared as she saw Tomoe standing at the foot of the bed, only having a couple of the bottom buttons up. She shook her head and her eyes wandered up. “You worked out the buttons quickly.”

“I figured they slipped through the holes. It just took a bit to work out which way.” She pulled at the ones done up for Ran to inspect. “Is that right?”

“Yeah, that’s how it goes.” Ran decided to point which hole and which button was to go together so Tomoe could do it herself. “This was my father’s favourite shirt until we moved.”

“Is it okay that I’m wearing it then?”

Ran nodded and helped out by undoing the pants and unzipping them ready to help her dress if need be. Tomoe sat as she buttoned up a button just under the middle of her chest and sat down to allow the pants to be pulled up her legs. She took them and stood up as she pulled them; with some difficulty, up over her hips and onto her waist. She then watched as Ran sheepishly zip her up and clips the pants together, tucking the shirt in and then tugging on the sides slightly so the fabric draped a little.

She stepped back, and placed a hand on her mouth in awe of the sight before her. Tomoe seemed confused, but she stood and looked back slightly awkward. “Are you okay?”

“Y-yeah, yeah I am. Let’s go out to the town.” She said, grabbing Tomoe’s wrist gently and leading her out the door.


	8. Chapter Eight

“People are staring at us; is that normal?”

Ran and Tomoe were casually walking through town; people stopping in the street to watch as they continued on their journey. Ran stifled a giggle and shook her head.

“No, they’re staring at you. To us mere humans you’re pretty much the embodiment of a Goddess.” Ran went pink at the sentence and looked downward as they walked.

Tomoe seemed confused, but shook her head and took it upon herself to slip her hand into Ran’s. She gave a tight grip and seemed to move in closer as they walked. Ran went red and made a point to not look up at Tomoe’s face. She instead just listened to people either making whispered comments or seeming to make noises of disappointment; and then point up ahead.

“That’s the one we’re going to. Friend of the family.” She merely said, and she got a squeeze of the hand in response.

They entered the shop, and a woman was sitting on a plush ottoman and pinning some hems on a pair of pants. She flicked her head of full brown hair up to see them enter the door. She instantly stopped and placed the pants down and made her way over.

“Nice to see you; been busy with work I take it?” She then eyed Tomoe off with a sideward grin. “Well, well, well. You’ve been busy alright.”

Ran breathed out hard. “Yeah, could say that. This is my-“

“Fiancée.” Tomoe interrupted, seeming to be surprised she remembered a word like it.

Ran gave her a look finally, before going back to her father’s friend. “Yes, that’s right. She’s staying with me for a bit but lost her luggage on the way here. Do you think you can help?”

“Of course!” She gave a smile and gestured for them to sit. “Any reason you want me?”

“Help a friend out, you do good work, plus she has um…” Ran looked at Tomoe for a moment, before getting up and whispering to the family friend about the difference she was anatomically.

“Oh! I see. Well I’m flattered. How about I get your squeeze into the changeroom and do some measurements shall we?”

“It’s okay. She’ll make sure it all fits you.” Ran gestured.

Tomoe decided to stand up and follow the older woman; and then Ran slumped into her seat. This woman was going to be the end of her sooner or later. She just didn’t think it was fair that she had to pretend about all this; no one would believe her anyway.

Her phone rang; seeing Moca’s number come up. “What’s up?”

_“Can you pick up the nice pizza for dinner tonight? I assume you’ll be out til dark right?”_

“Sure thing. How’s the workload going? Hopefully not too much more?”

_“Hmmmmm, at least another couple of days worth. I slacked off a lot you know.”_

Ran giggled. “Yeah you did. That’s fine. And yeah we’ll be out all day. So pizza is fine. We can do that.”

_“Thankyou. Bye bye!”_

Moca hung up and Ran put her phone away. The family friend poked her head out shortly after and grinned. “If you want to go across and shop for the unders; I’ve got the measurements here for you.”

Ran flushed pink but nodded furiously in response.

*---*

Ran placed a mug down on the desk Moca was sitting at and poked her awake. Her cousin’s head shot up and she breathed in hard from having been interrupted from a deeper slumber than usual. Moca eyed the cup off and smiled as she took it.

“I think I need one or twenty of these; thanks.” She took a sip and licked her lip afterwards. “When did you get back in?”

“Not too long ago. Dinner is on the table calling your name.” Ran gave a small grin and they both made their way to the main open area of the home. “Today was weird. I didn’t think it would be weird to buy things for another woman. I felt dirty.”

“I think you just feel that way because of the whole situation.” Moca held her cup and looked around the room. “Speaking of, where is she?”

“Wanting to try shower and put on clothes by herself.” Ran shrugged at her own sentence. “Which is fine. I guess I just worry when it’s been a bit longer than usual.”

Moca’s eyes focused up, and she gave a low whistle. Ran turned to see Tomoe coming down the stairs carefully in just a night robe. Ran had to look away and bite her lip. Tomoe stood beside her and didn’t seem to notice the awkward aura she had created.

“I got the underwear parts right, but I couldn’t figure out the long strippy thing you got me.” She stated innocently.

“A night gown?” Moca questioned with a grin. “What does the underwear look like?”

“No, please don-“ Ran went to stop her, but the cord had been undone and her long and sloped torso was in full view.

Moca smiled and gave a thumbs up. “Nice, the colour suits you too. Ran did a good job.”

“She did. I’m very thankful.” She tied it back up so she was covered. “I feel bad that you went to all the trouble though.”

“It’s fine. We want you to feel comfortable up here and dressing like us will help with that.” Ran pulled a chair out and gestured for her to sit; she moved to the kitchen to reboil the kettle and fix them drinks.

Moca sat down and made a dramatic sigh. “Can you do my work for me instead? I want to sleep. Baby wants me to sleep.”

“The quicker you get it done the more time you have for that.” Ran came back, placing a cup beside Tomoe’s plate and sat down with her own. “But from how I found you I agree that you maybe need to have an early night tonight. I can look at something small tonight for you so you’re not overloaded.”

“My hero. My saviour. How can I ever repay you?”

“By actually sleeping.” Ran began opening boxes and pulling the pieces apart before placing them on their plates. “Eat up before they get cold.”

*---*

Ran helped Tomoe put her nightgown on, showered and then came out to see her sitting on the bed expectantly. Her blue eyes were looking up at her curiously, and she opened her arms to initiate her wanting a hug. Ran lowered her shoulders and shuffled in, wrapping her arms around the other woman’s shoulders. She felt larger arms wrap around her waist and pull her in.

“What’s this for?” Ran asked; being met with silence.

Tomoe moved her head slightly. “It was because I remembered it was a gesture of gratitude with friends; but I got a flashback of something. A pool of red on the surface of the water. What do you think that means?”

Ran knew exactly what it meant. “Uh, like that red?” She pointed to the dress hanging up in the open closet.

Tomoe peered at it over Ran’s arm, and then cocked her head as she processed it. “It might’ve been, yes. But that’s all I got.”

Ran sighed and pulled away; Tomoe pouted but let go of her. “I gotta work. I’ll try be quiet when I come up to bed alright?”

Tomoe nodded and shuffled up to slip under then covers. “Don’t work too late; you need to sleep aswell.”

Ran shut the door behind her and made her way downstairs; she entered the office and noticed another little one of the Mermaid’s gift flowers, but in a silver and brown colour. Moca’s flower.

That was now quivering at the presence of Ran picking the bowl up carefully.

“Did your mother leave you in here. What a naughty woman.” She stated quietly, coming up the stairs quietly and trying to knock on her cousin’s door loud enough to wake her, yet quiet enough that it didn’t echo into her own room.

Moca opened the door sleepily, rubbing her eye. “What?”

“You left your other child in the office. It’s been shaking the whole time.” She presented the bowl; to which Moca took with a smile and closed the door.

Ran made her way back downstairs and back into the office. She sat down, woke the computer up and opened the top drawer to fish a case of glasses out and opened it as the lock screen loaded. She placed the glasses on and began typing the passcode to get in. Moca’s documents were still scattered on the screen but it looked like she wasn’t too far off finishing the biggest project she had. Ran began to look over the last couple of paragraphs written before continuing on, making sure her wording was imitating her cousins’.

She decided that while she was on a roll, she could start the next one so at least the major project being re-read before sending wouldn’t eat into precious time for the other few. So away she did. Making sure to save a few times before minimizing the pages and starting a new document.

She then flinched as something rested on top of her head; hands coming to rest on her shoulders. She wiggled her head away to be able to look up and notice Tomoe leaning over her; looking extremely tired but her eyes were still as wide as they usually were when she was attentive.

“I can’t sleep.” She declared softly. “I’m sorry to annoy you. I know this is important for you humans.”

“It’s okay. I’m somewhat finished. Just one or two more things I wanted to add so Moca isn’t stuck here all day tomorrow.” Ran decided to stand up and swivel the chair around before gesturing. “Why don’t you sit? I can stand for the rest of this.”

Tomoe sat down and Ran swivelled it back around before turning to the comp to keep going. She made a noise as she felt hands on her waist pulling her downwards. To sit on Tomoe’s lap. Warmth spread along her back as the taller woman leant against her and sighed in content, and Ran became very flustered. Any other situation and her work would’ve waited, but this one she focused on getting it done as quickly as possible so there was less time to be in the position they were.   
  


“What are those on your face?” She heard from behind her. “I don’t remember you wearing them as a child.”

“Glasses. Some humans; like myself, lose the ability to be able to see properly the older we get. I have particular problems with reading things now; get a super bad headache. So the glasses are designed for me to be able to focus on this computer and books to be able to do our research and work. My father has to wear them all the time now so I think in a few years time I might have to aswell.”

“That doesn’t sound like a good thing to happen. I wonder why it is.” Tomoe squeezed her arms. “If it makes you feel any better they look alright on you.”

It made Ran feel something alright.

*---*

Tomoe had woken the next morning before Ran; holding her tightly in her arms and trying to lean her face closer. But something was holding her back. The magic from the sorceress probably. She tutted to herself and decided to gently tuck Ran’s streak behind her ear. Her mind flashed to an image of her cradling Ran; only looking worse for wear.

But those eyes were looking up at her with love.

Tomoe shook her head and suddenly felt bad. She figured it was the feeling from the memory coming back so broken and unfinished. Ran seemed to be completely out of it; Tomoe was careful to slide her arm out from underneath without moving her too much, and carefully remove herself from the bed. She slowly crept out the room; opening the door ever so carefully and closing it as equally.

She made her way down the stairs; more confidently now and saw Moca standing at the kitchen bench near the kettle. She didn’t turn but she gave a small wave. “Morning, sleep well?”

“Yeah, I slept pretty good.” Tomoe decided to try her luck, sliding in behind Moca and wrapping her arms around her. The other woman made a small noise, but gave a small chuckle in response.

But it felt cold. Ran felt warm to the touch.

“Is Ran withholding from you at night? I’m not surprised.” Moca watched as Tomoe let her go and leant on the bench beside her. “Still getting memories back slowly?”

“Too slowly. It’s like there is a force stopping it being easy. But then again when has this kind of magic worked in favour of anyone.” Tomoe bit her lip and reached her hand out gingerly. “Uh, may I try something?”

Moca turned to comply; only to have lips pressed against her own. Her noise was muffled, and it took her a few moments to realise what was happening before pressing a hand to the other woman’s chest. Tomoe instantly let go and leant back.

“I thought as much.” Tomoe scratched her collarbone.

“Why did you just do that to me? Did you try with Ran first at least?” Moca didn’t want to berate her; but at the same time she knew what her cousin would be like if she found out.

“I did not. I didn’t want to wake her up. She stayed up a lot later than she promised she would.” Tomoe pursed her lips. “Should I try with her then?”

“Um, yes. Yes you really should.” Moca turned to see Ran coming down the staircase, rubbing her eye. “Speak of the devil. You’ve just been busted for staying up doing my work.”

“Did you sleep at least?” Ran shuffled to set up a cup of her own; eyes still partially closed.

“Yes, thanks to you. How much did you do?”

“Enough that you can proofread and send the big one. And maybe almost all another one. It was a smaller project but it took longer trying to imitate your style of writing.”

Moca shook her head and began helping prepare the three cups with the various coffee and sugar spoonfuls. “Well I’m greatful for that. But I feel bad. I hope you’re not gonna do work today too.”

“No. But I’ll have to go into town; dad wants me to be at a meeting in his stead.” Ran gave a sigh and placed a hand on Tomoe’s arm gently. “I want to take this one somewhere. Try and jog some memories.”

Moca nodded in response, before shooting Tomoe the look. Tomoe knew exactly what she meant; Lisa used to shoot the same look at her constantly. “Yeah, that sounds good. I don’t want to take time away from your work but if you’re making time it’d be silly to say no and waste it.”

*---*

Ran had her satchel and walked with Tomoe; who seemed to enjoy the breeze blowing around. She seemed very carefree, and Ran envied her in the moment. A woman who had the entire undersea world to herself, and yet here she was enjoying a simple thing that got on human’s nerves at times.

“I uh, figured we could go to our spot and maybe see if it brings anything up.” Ran fidgeted with her bag strap as they closed in on their cove spot. “It may not do anything but-“

“It’s worth a shot.” Tomoe looked at her and smiled. “I don’t have a lot of time left to figure myself out. I really want to be up here y’know?”

“Yeah, I know.” Ran smiled back as they made their way into the small secluded patch of beach in the rocks and sad down. The ocean lapping against the walls echoed through every so often, and the sun would catch a glimmer of pearl and sprinkle a reflective of the iridescent around.

Ran had opened the satchel and had pulled out a torn and weathered book. Tomoe instantly recognised it as the fable book and leant over to touch it. Nothing had come back to her though, and she retracted her hand in slight disappointment.

“You okay? You seemed so eager to reach out for it.” Ran offered it, and Tomoe took it from her this time.

She then got the flashback of her curled up on Ran’s lap as the younger version read to her. About the Mermaid coming to the surface to fall in love. Her expression was clearly unnatural as Ran looked at her with a bit of concern; Tomoe then changed to a smile. “I remember you reading this to me…for the second time I should say. You were older in the memory.”

“There we go; a little bit of progress is still good.” Ran leant back on her hands and gave a content sigh.

Tomoe however seemed to have expected a bit more than that. “I wish it was a lot more. I feel like I’m sabotaging myself at this point.” She then shuffled closer to Ran, who cocked her head in curiousity. “Um, I feel like I’m more comfortable with you now. Can I try something?”

“Yeah, of course. If it may help you.” Ran watched intently as Tomoe cupped her face, and then seemed to do nothing else. Her eyebrows were creasing and she seemed to be making slight noises in frustration. “Um, you can do it when you’re ready Tomoe. I don’t mind.”

Tomoe let go and cursed in frustration. “I was trying to kiss you. But my face wont go to close to you for some reason. I tried to this morning and I couldn’t even get close. And yet I was able to kiss Moca fine, but she’s cold to the touch-“

“You kissed Moca?” Ran’s words seemed strained as she repeated it. She didn’t mean to sound the way she did; Tomoe instantly looked at her from being cut off and seemed to almost be ashamed she had said anything at all. Ran swallowed the lump in her throat and pretended to seem like she was deep in thought. “I wonder why?”

Tomoe looked down at the book and began to flick through. “I don’t know. I figured maybe that if it was the case then I could try get closer with you, but it seems like something is missing.”

Ran nodded with a crooked smile, but inside she just felt like breaking down. She was worried that this would happen, and now in real time she could only sit and watch as the only person she loved this much was slipping right through her fingers as easily as sand.


	9. Chapter Nine

Ran sat on the side of her bed that night; feeling fingers lightly stroking her back. She gave a sigh, knowing her not being able to sleep meant she was keeping Tomoe awake. But she just couldn’t get over the fact that she was suddenly just back to being the friend.

“Are you okay?” She heard Tomoe say as gently as she could. Ran turned and forced a smile.

“Sorry, I’m having trouble falling asleep.” She finally grabbed the sheets and tucked herself in. Tomoe instantly opened her arms and allowed Ran to cuddle in.

“Was it about today?” Tomoe asked, stroking the back of Ran’s head gently.

“Yes…but it’s out of our control.” She wrapped her arm around Tomoe’s waist loosely, feeling the stroking on her head slowing down. “Don’t worry so much about it, okay?”

“I do worry though.” She pulled Ran closer; but her chin moved on it own to rest on the crown of the smaller woman’s head. She could feel Ran’s breathing slow down, and Tomoe tried to move her head to at least try to kiss her on the forehead.

But it didn’t work.

She bit her lip and pulled her in closer; feeling bad that she was using her to get to sleep and that was about it. They were friends; but she felt like she wasn’t doing enough. She felt her eyes watering up a little bit at the thought of it all.

“You need to get rest for tomorrow. Please try and sleep.” She said, knowing it wouldn’t change anything.

“I’ll try to now, thankyou.” Ran was quiet, almost like she was trying hard to hold herself back. “Your body heat is kind of helping. I can see why your kind share sleeping space your whole life.”

Tomoe gave a smile, and almost purred. “You’re the warmest person I’ve held. It’s nice.” Soon afterwards she gave a sigh. “I’m sorry I came up here when I did. It’s so inconvenient for you both.”

“It’s fine. How were you supposed to know what was going on?” Ran responded a little bit quieter; fatigue was starting to settle in. “All we know is that you came up here for a huge reason; and you haven’t got much longer to figure that out.”

“I know. I just hope that I’m able to do that so it wasn’t a huge burden on you both.”

Ran could only give her own sigh in response.

*---*

Tomoe had woken up first, and noticed Ran was somewhat pulled away from her but still fast asleep. She ever so gently pulled herself away and sat up. She was getting used to this; being able to look upon her friend’s sleeping face. She refrained from touching her on the offchance she woke her up, and took her silent leave once more out the room and to the kitchen.

There was Moca, sitting at the table instead and on her phone. She looked up and gave a small smile before going back to whatever it was she was doing. But she still initiated communication. “Did you sleep okay? I could kind of hear you two last night.”

“It was…fine. Ran is just having issues with emotions and I don’t know how to help her.” Tomoe sat down opposite her and leant on the table. “I just feel bad about being here and not really helping with anything.”

“It’s okay, really.” Moca smiled and nodded. “For now you’re our guest and we want you to just focus on this whole thing you have. It’s on borrowed time so you shouldn’t even be worrying about all that. However; if you end up staying up here then you can be sure to be put to work.”

Tomoe gave a grin and nodded. “Yeah okay, I can live with that.”

Ran came shuffling down, merely nodding sleepily and holding her head. Moca pursed her lips at the sight.

“Didn’t get a lot of sleep?” She asked as they watched her dig through drawers.

Ran pulled a small box from one and opened it to pull the silver tray out and remove a couple of pills. “Not at all. Killer headache. It’s gonna be super fun at the meeting today.”

“How long will you be?” Tomoe asked, almost seeming like she would much rather Ran stay home and sleep.

“All day I think.” She got a glass to fill with water and swallowed the pills. “So unless Moca has finished enough work to slack off you may sadly have to entertain yourself.”

“I have. I made sure to knowing you would be going.” Moca gave a smile. “Just focus on one thing today and then worry about here later alright?”

Ran had bustled around them; making sure she had eaten something decent and drank enough to hydrate herself for the day before trying to decide what to wear. She opted for a skirt-suit ensemble so she would look refined and professional but still hard.

“Okay, so I think I’m ready to go. I’ll text through about dinner on whether I’ll be out or not.” Ran groaned before bidding farewell and leaving the other two in a suddenly large and silent house.

Tomoe had been quiet; she was mulling over everything that had happened and she decided that with merely three nights left she would have to do something. Her silence didn’t go unnoticed however; Moca didn’t move from her seat and was watching her intently.

“There’s something else on your mind isn’t there?” She asked curiously, waiting for the other woman to look at her directly before grinning. “You can tell me. We have all day to work things out.”

“I uh, I’ve been weighing it up.” Tomoe started, trying to remember the words she was going to say. “I know there is something for Ran, but I still am not sure what it is. But I also weigh it up against everything else, and I feel something stronger for you.”

“Oh, well-“

“I think that I came up for you. Otherwise I feel like I wouldn’t be struggling with Ran for everything, right? And it makes more sense that I would come up knowing there was a child involved, not to mention how easy it’s been for us to be around one another, right?” Tomoe seemed really unsure however by her statement.

Moca just sat, thinking of something to say; to be nice in her approach to telling Tomoe she had wasted all this time. Instead, she calmly said, “I think you need to see something.”

Moca stood and beckoned for Tomoe to follow, in which the taller woman complied as they went back upstairs and entered Moca’s room. A room Tomoe had never entered until now, and it felt oddly unwelcoming to her as she stood in the centre of the room.

Moca had moved to her bed side table, and turned back around with a bowl in her hand. Inside was a Mermaid’s gift, bouncing around. Tomoe noticed that the colours were brown with silver stripes on the petals as it swayed in its water. It suddenly made sense to her.

“Lisa.” Was all Tomoe could muster, and Moca gave a nod. “That’s why you never told anyone anything.”

“I figured it would be too hard for her to come to grips with.” Moca put her flower bowl back in its place before gesturing them to leave. “Imagine finding out you’re having a baby and you can’t help your partner.”

“If I figured it out, it would be a matter of time til she would.” Tomoe followed Moca down the stairs and to the front door. “When was the last time you saw her?”

Moca stopped and looked back at Tomoe with a look of guilt. The red head bit her lip and swallowed hard. “Are we going to see her now? Please say you were going to see her.”

Moca gave a nod; Tomoe breathed a sigh of relief, and they both made their way to the shore. Neither had bothered to get dressed; no one ventured to their end of the island without permission anyway.

Tomoe could see bubbles near a few large rocks, and soon a magnificent head of brown hair broke through the sea’s surface and a very angry and hurt looking Lisa was staring at them. Moca’s lip quivered at the sight of her lover.

“Well, well, well; was I worth coming to visit now?” She started, climbing up onto the rock closest to the pier that the other two were walking down towards her. Her arms were folded tightly. “All I get is a ‘sorry I’m too busy with work to see you’ and a note saying that I may never see my sister again. And yet here you both are.”

“I’m sorry!” Tomoe apologised first. “I clearly needed to do what I was meant to do. I dunno what it is anymore but I’m trying to do it.”

Lisa pouted. “You could at least have told me! I would’ve come up too.”

“What if it didn’t work though? Better one of us than both.”

“Well, at least the human will be worth all the trouble in the end.” Lisa unfolded her arms slowly. “You said you needed to be up here with your human. What even happened?”

“As far as I remember? I gave up my love as the exchange.” Tomoe shrugged. “I’m supposed to fall in love again within seven sunsets. It’s…come to a bump in the road.”

“Just a small one.” Moca knelt down beside Lisa but made no move after; possibly a bit cautious. “She thought that maybe it was me because we could like, kiss-“

Lisa’s pupils turned to slits and she almost hissed at Tomoe; her body slithering up onto the pier in an almost protective manner as she was on her hands and her side fins fanned out to shield Moca. “You dare try to take her away from me?!”

“Lisa, no!” Moca grabbed her around the shoulders and leant on her. “It was a silly little mistake. No one is taking me away from you, I promise.”

“I’m sorry.” Tomoe also knelt down, trying to come across as passive. “I was wrong. I saw the flower today and it clicked to why I have no memories of Moca that seem to be lost.”

Lisa’s fins slowly folded back down, and her eyes slowly went back to normal. She almost looked guilty for getting so aggressive. “I’m sorry. I just, haven’t seen Moca in a while. And Ran let it slip about a baby and I’ve been waiting for days to see if it’s true.”

“It’s true.” Moca let her go and sat back to let Lisa look at her bump. She watched as her eyes widened in awe before looking back up at her face. “I didn’t want to tell anyone until after it was born; I wasn’t even sure of it til Tomoe confirmed it.”

Lisa cautiously reached out to touch her and rub gently. “I can hear her. She’s very excited.” She then moved to look back at Tomoe sympathetically. “What are you going to do now then?”

Tomoe pursed her lips and shrugged. “I honestly don’t know. There isn’t any way to monitor how the memories are triggered.”

Moca looked like she had an idea, but she kept it to herself. “Well, why don’t we spend the day here with Lisa and see if anything comes up? Worth a shot right?”

*---*

They had spent the day catching up; Moca promising to try and make time for Lisa in future, and the two made their way back to the house as the sun began to set. Moca had gotten the text that they needed to fend for themselves til late; which was fine as she was the cook of the house anyway.

“It was nice to spend the day with Lisa.” Tomoe commented. “I now feel bad I didn’t wait for her. But I don’t think you guys could handle us both at the same time.”

“Ran probably couldn’t honestly. She’s been finding it difficult as is. And Lisa has always commented that she thinks Ran is cute too. It would’ve been really messy.”

Tomoe felt her face heat up from the comment of someone else finding Ran attractive and she figured that maybe it was because she didn’t like to hear that. And then she thought that maybe that’s how Ran felt about hearing Tomoe kiss Moca. She felt her stomach drop and she fell silent for the rest of the walk to the house.

“Hey, I think there’s something else that you need to see.” Moca broke the silence as they both stood in the entry of the house. “I feel like Ran should’ve shown you straight away but she had her reasons I guess.”

“Well if she hasn’t shown me yet, is it okay for you to be showing me?” Tomoe seemed a bit confused by the notion.

“She’s not here to stop us. So yes, it’s okay.”

They made their way up the stairs and into the shared bedroom. Tomoe sat on the bed as Moca began walking around and looking under and behind things. She then found a small key taped to the back of a jewellery box, and she made her way to the side table on Tomoe’s side of the bed. She opened the drawer to reveal a diary, in which she pulled out and unlocked the lock with the small key. She was careful to put them both in the drawer before flicking the now open book to Tomoe.

Instantly she got a flash of Ran writing in it and smiling as she declared she was documenting everything about them.

“Read that while I cook us some food. I’ll call you when I’m done.”

Moca closed the door with her exit, and Tomoe decided to get comfy and lay down before opening the book. She decided to start at the beginning; when they had first met when Ran was a child. The writing was big and messy; and a picture of a mermaid drawn in a child-like manner was next to it. She knew it was her due to the heart shape on the tail. Tomoe rolled her shirt up to look at her birthmark; now on her hip bone and she gave a small smile.

She flicked the pages to where she could see the noticeable change in age by the writing neatening and the language maturing. Here she actually read it; it was the day that she was leaving.

_‘I don’t want to leave her. She’s the only one here that I’ve connected with and been so close with. It’s hard, because I think I have a crush on her. But that can’t be right; because we aren’t the same species. I’m just a young and dumb human and she’s a beautiful goddess of the sea. She would never think of me the same way.’_

Tomoe flicked the page; which seemed to be sometime later.

_‘It’s been a year and I just can’t find anyone else attractive. I’ve found myself describing her when people ask me what I want in a partner. I’m only 17 now but I know sooner or later I’ll be in the mindset of dating. But I know it’ll become a problem if I keep thinking about her.’_

Tomoe could feel her heart doing something as she kept reading on. She then slowly was getting images in her head of her and Ran reuniting after that time apart. She lifted her ankle and looked at the scarred ring around the outside. Where the rope cut in deep. She lowered her ankle and went back to reading where they had reunited; and she was so absorbed in the writing she tuned out to the rest of the world.

“What are you doing with that?”

Tomoe sat up with a start, snapping the diary closed and looking surprised when Ran was standing in the doorway, staring at her expectantly. She didn’t seem to be angry, but then she didn’t seem happy with the scene.

“You’re back!” Tomoe dodged the question, putting it down on the bed and jumping up. She felt her heart racing at the sight of the woman; who seemed surprised by the action. “How was it?”

“As I expected. A waste of time and a long day of explaining simple things to complete idiots.” She moved to the closet to take the uniform off and hang it up. “Did you have a good day?”

Tomoe shuffled over once Ran hung the clothes up; and gently wrapped her arms the smaller woman’s body. She got a small noise in response and Tomoe dared to move her face close to hers. It worked and she was able to plant a kiss on Ran’s cheek gently with a huge grin. Ran on the other hand was now going red and looked down in embarrassment.

“What’s gotten into you suddenly?” She finally asked, swatting her hands away. “Don’t tell me snooping in my diary helped you.”

“Would it be a problem if it did?” Tomoe smiled in response. “We saw Lisa today; and I was shown Moca’s gift she was given. The silver stripes were a nice touch to the brown petals.”

Ran looked back at her at the sentence. “Oh, really? That’s interesting information.” She then waved her off. “I’m going to shower and meet you down for dinner; Moca failed to mention she was cooking something that takes over an hour to do. We can talk about all this after okay?”

*---*

Ran and Tomoe had gotten ready for bed, and Tomoe was looking at her expectantly. Ran reached out and pet her head gently.

“I’m sorry if I’ve been a bit distant. It’s been…strange to deal with.” She noticed Tomoe was enjoying her head being petted and pushed in. “It’s almost cute you still like this.”

“Your touch is warm. Everything about you is warm and it makes me feel nice.” She then bit her lip. “I’m sorry I read the diary. It was locked for a reason and I had no right to look at it.”

“It’s okay. I did think that I should’ve shown it to you right away, but I was worried about the possibility of influencing you. I just know now that it was just my silly insecurities getting in the way.”

Tomoe moved closer and leant on her in a comforting way. Ran gave a small smile and gripped her arm gently. She felt strange that yesterday she was stressing about losing Tomoe and now here they were, sharing a quiet intimate moment that she has craved the entire time she’s been up with them.

“Hey, so you saw Moca’s flower right? I think it’s the right time to take you to see the garden.”

They both left the bed, quietly moving through the hall and down the staircase. Ran then took her over to some curtains in the main living area; she pulled them away and opened a glass sliding door. Tomoe noticed the gesture to go in and she complied.

She waited until Ran had flicked the purple fairy lights on, and stared around in awe. The entire area was covered in various flowers and vines; all flourishing under the coloured hue and seeming to be extremely happy in their home.

“There’s a very special one I wanted you to see.” Ran was quiet, but moved to where there was a cozy little seating area setup, and a glass bowl was sitting on the table. Inside was another Mermaid’s gift, happily bouncing around at this point.

Tomoe shuffled over, noticing that even under the light it was an ombre effect of red and black. It was almost trying to jump out as she moved her hand into the water to give it a little tickle. She got a flash to them in the water, the red being the dress Ran wore as they kissed.

“I gave you this.” She stated slowly, looking up to Ran merely giving a smile in response. Tomoe removed her hand and stared down at herself before looking back up at Ran’s face. “So we are…?”

Ran just simply nodded; knowing what she was getting at. Tomoe moved forward, gripping her hips and pulling the smaller woman forward. She swallowed hard before lowering her face so their lips grazed together. Ran made a small breath and slowly moved her finger between them.

“Not here. Back upstairs.” It wasn’t a request.

They both snuck back in the house, Ran leading Tomoe up the bedroom and both giggling as Ran closed the bedroom door behind them for their privacy.

*---*

Tomoe woke the next morning, seeing Ran sleeping with her back turned to her. However she had a nice afterglow about her skin from the previous night. She couldn’t help but touch her and pepper her exposed shoulder with kisses. She was just pleased she could finally be affectionate to someone.

Ran stirred and moved to lay down on her back; her eyes opened slowly to see Tomoe staring down at her with a smile. She gave a little noise and smiled back. “You look chipper this morning.”

“I am. It makes me happier seeing you happy too.” She moved down to wrap her arms around Ran and cuddle her. “Last night brought back a lot of memories. I’m just happy they’re finally coming back now.”

“You sure about that? Or was this your plan all along to get intimate?” Ran giggled and lifted a hand to her cheek as Tomoe looked surprised. “I’m kidding of course. I’m just in a funny mood I guess. However, we could always try and get more memories back while I’m in this mood?”

Tomoe gave a grin and leant down to kiss Ran a bit harder than she anticipated, but was received well in return as they deepened the kiss. Tomoe broke away to begin kissing down her jawline and onto her neck, Ran moved and gave a giggle in response. Her eyes flickered open to see the door open, with two bodies standing and watching intently.

“Well, well. What do we have here?”


	10. chapter ten

Tomoe stopped to the sound of the voice and sat up straight in confusion. She was met with two other women standing in the doorway; one with fluffy pink hair in pigtails looking quite interested in her presence, and a brunette who seemed guilty on what they had interrupted. Ran; who was now sitting up as best she could having Tomoe on her lap, seemed to be quite frustrated.

“Get out!” She barked; the woman who had opened the door laughed and closed it again. Ran huffed and flopped back into the bed.

“Who were they?” Tomoe enquired, not moving from her position and cocking her head.

“Longterm friends from school…I forgot it was this weekend they were moving in.” She sighed and gestured for Tomoe to move down and cuddle with her. “I guess we should either be quick about it or get dressed and go see them.”

“Moca would be awake to let them in right?” Tomoe moved her hand to Ran’s hip and gripped at it. “She can entertain them for a little bit longer.”

Ran gave a grin, and then rolled her eyes with a sigh and shook her head. “As nice as it would be to just do that; I’d never hear the end of it. We can sneak away to the cove later and play around there.”

Tomoe kissed Ran’s cheek with a smile and released her grip so they could untangle from one another. “Sounds good to me.”

Once dressed and looking presentable, they both made their way downstairs where the women and a bunch of luggage was strewn around the livingroom. Moca had her back turned in the kitchen, seemingly making a round of coffee. The pink haired woman still wore the grin from before.

“So, if it was me I just would’ve gotten on with it before coming down. But I digress.” She gestured with her hand. “When were you gonna tell us about this hot squeeze?”

Ran gave a huff and folded her arms. “It’s complicated-“ she cut off and looked at Tomoe, who blinked back in response, seeming to not understand what was going on. “Well, these are our old friends, Himari and Tsugumi. They studied the same thing we did hence why we suggested they move in. They’re like family, so I think it would be alright to tell them the truth.”

Tomoe gave a nod. “If you trust them then I do too.”

Himari’s grin dropped; she seemed more intent to listen. Tsugumi stood beside Moca but had turned her full attention to them. Ran unfolded her arms and placed her hands on her hips instead.

“Do you guys remember Fishy? Well…”

Himari then stood up with a start. “Wait, she’s actually real?! When you said she was a mermaid I thought you’d just imagined it to describe her looks but you weren’t kidding,” She moved over and began inspecting Tomoe closely. “She is gorgeous like a mermaid for sure.”

“Oh, I am a mermaid.” Tomoe responded as Himari began playing with her hair. “I came up here for Ran; because she read about the story of the mermaid coming up for the prince human to for love.”

Tsugumi’s eyes widened slightly. “That- I didn’t think anything like that was possible. No one has ever documented the existence of Mermaids beyond old fables.”

“Because we don’t usually make ourselves known to man.” Tomoe looked at Ran with a smile. “But I made an exception.”

Himari came back around to stand before them and began to gush. “Oh god, so romantic! But it’s expected of Ran to never do things by halves.”

“Or Moca.” Ran pointed out. “Moca also has her own mermaid girlfriend.”

Moca smiled and patted her tummy gently. “Mermaid family you mean.”

Himari then turned and exclaimed loudly. “WHAT?!”

Ran gave a grin at Tomoe. It was going to be an eventful day.

*---*

It had been a few hours in which Ran and Moca had attempted to go indepth about the entire situation, but it was clear that Himari and Tsugumi were still very sceptical. Himari was still assuming that Ran had elaborated the whole ordeal to hide Tomoe away out of jealousy which seemed more believable to them.

“I don’t know what else to tell you. It’s the truth and you would know that I of all people wouldn’t make stuff up for attention.” Ran folded her arms with a huff. “Just because we’re all qualified in speaking of the ocean doesn’t mean we know everything that lives there.”

Tomoe suddenly looked like she had an idea. “Ran told you guys I had a heart on my tail, right?” Both nodded and she grinned. “Here, take a look at this then.”

Tomoe moved her shorts down enough to expose her hip; in which the heart was in full view. She even made the notion to rub her thumb on it to prove that it wasn’t drawn on. Himari nodded a few times before speaking. “That’s fair! But we can get things tattooed on.”

“Oh, yeah I guess so.” Tomoe went back into thought and tapped her chin. “Well then, I guess we’ll just have to go and coax Lisa up to the shore. I dunno how she’ll take it but I guess if she sees me with you she wont panic and leave.”

Moca nodded. “Yep, only way to convince you both. Lisa will be shocked but she’ll understand.”

The group made their way to the shore; Moca and Tomoe taking up the front on the offchance Lisa was already up and waiting. Their suspicions were correct as she was preening her curly hair while being perched on the usual rock they used. However, there was another head of hair bobbing around her; a mint green.

Lisa noticed Moca and Tomoe; and began to wave excitedly. The other head turned and seemed to be shocked; she quickly shot down under the water and left a trail of bubbles in her wake.

“Oh Sayo, come back! It’s our sister and her other family!” Lisa said loudly with a laugh; the less than impressed head of the sister Sayo came back up cautiously.

“I cannot believe you both would be so casual in your approach to humans.” She responded with a scoff as the group finally reached them. “Tomoe; I had to see it to believe it. Ako is to say the least devastated.”

“Yeah I knew she would be.” Tomoe rubbed the back of her neck and grimaced. “But you know; love is love and when you bond-“

“Bonding? That’s possible?” Sayo suddenly had a growing curiousity, before realising and shaking her head. “No, I don’t need to understand it.”

Himari and Tsugumi both stared in awe. Lisa flicked water at them with her tail fin and giggled as they both seemed to come back down to earth. Sayo on the other hand had gotten quiet; seemingly interested in Tsugumi. She went a bit red and mumbled about having to help their sisters before excusing herself.

“She’s nice once she opens up, I promise.” Lisa curled her tail around and perked up in her seat. “There are more of you now? Since when?”

“Today.” Moca shuffled over to give Lisa a small peck on the forehead. “They’re pretty much family to us so they’re living with us.”

Lisa’s eyes sparkled at the sentence and flicked her tail. “Aw wow! Baby’s going to be well looked after then.”

Himari finally gained her voice back as she sauntered over to Lisa; her eyes shining and her attention glued to the tail. “Wooooooow…I can’t believe it. You’re real?”

Lisa giggled and beckoned her over; and gripped Himari’s wrist to guide her hand down onto her tail. Tsugumi soon after bustled over to join in on the ogling. Ran gave a small smile as she watched her friends finally see she wasn’t pulling their legs, and felt a bump against her arm. Tomoe was using her own arm to nudge her; making a head motion towards their private cove. Ran gave a cautious look back to the group; noticing none of them were paying any attention to them, and they both slunk off without a second thought.

*---*

Ran and Tomoe sat in the garden; Ran on a laptop engaged in another report needed to be sent urgently, and Tomoe playing and feeding their little plant. Ran looked over her screen momentarily and gave a small smile as the flower shivered with excitement.

“If you feed it anymore its going to get chunky.” Ran stated before going back to her typing.

Tomoe pet the flower before shuffling over and sitting on the other cane chair. She cocked her head as she watched Ran’s fingers. “Or I’m just helping it grow faster.”

They sat in silence for a moment; before Tomoe decided to break it. “I’ve been thinking about tomorrow. That’s all I have left right? What if it didn’t work?”

Ran stopped what she was doing and swallowed hard. She had hoped they would’ve been able to not discuss the prospect at all, but it was naïve to think that it could’ve been avoided.

“In the end it’s now up to fate. As much as I hate using that word.” Ran gave a sigh and saved her work before closing her laptop. “I would think that we just need to focus on it working and what we can look forward to in the future.”

Tomoe stared down at her body now; lost in her train of thought. “What if you end up like Moca? Only Lisa is still around for the child. What if you end up with one and I’m not around to help?”

“I don’t think that we should-“

“If that happens, will you teach it about me?”

Ran closed her mouth after being interrupted and saw the face of the person she loved most in such a vulnerable state, and she knew that she would have to answer the question regardless of whether she liked it or not.

“I promise I will. But I know that it won’t come to that. You will be around for sure.”

The sliding door cut through the tense feeling in the air and Himari looked sheepish as they both looked at her. “I’m sorry, I feel like I ruined a moment.”

“It’s fine. What’s up?” Ran stated calmly.

“Just wanted to see if you guys wanted to join us for a movie?” She gave a small smile. “Coffee and cake too? Tsugu made some while you were out here.”

Ran smiled and nodded. “Yeah, that sounds really nice. We’ll definitely join in a sec.”

Himari smiled and closed the door, leaving the two once more. Tomoe took the opportunity to grab Ran’s hand and kiss the palm gently.

“Thankyou.” She uttered softly. 


	11. chapter eleven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry this took so long but it's finally at the end. I hope you all enjoyed!

Ran was staring down at Tomoe’s sleeping face; preening her red hair gently and listening to her breathing. She was completely enamoured; and yet it made her heart ache with anxiousness. Tonight was the final night in which Tomoe had prove she had fallen in love with Ran again for them to stay together.

And sure, they had shared quite a few intimate moments together in such a short time; but that meant nothing in the end. You didn’t have to be in love for them and that’s what Ran was worried about the most. That she hadn’t done enough to keep them together.

Tomoe shifted in her sleep; she squinted before opening her eyes and giving a smile. “The head rubbing was nice.”

“I’m glad. I didn’t want to wake you up but I also didn’t want to just watch you like a creep.” Ran stopped her hand and cupped Tomoe’s cheek. “How did you sleep?”

Tomoe gave a purr as Ran stroked her cheek gently. “Alright. I did hear you get up a few times though. Are you okay?”

Ran dropped her hand to Tomoe’s disappointment and bit her lip. “I know that there’s not much more we can do so I’m a little stressed out I guess. I keep thinking I could’ve done more with this but I don’t know what.”

Tomoe sat up and looked with concern. “No, I’m sorry that I unconsciously sabotaged the first few days. But, I feel like we did everything we could do in that short a time.”

Ran gave a nod, but she wasn’t convinced.

*---*

The atmosphere in the house was distorted and eerie.

The others had opted to take over the workload while leaving the two to spend the rest of the day together. Ran and Tomoe had ended up in the spare room instead; plastic on the carpet and both painting a mural on the wall together.

“This is fun. I’ve only ever used stuff on the ocean floor to paint obviously.” Tomoe eyed off a brush in her hand; her face covered in paint.

Ran gave a small smile and went back to the line she was working on. “I’m glad you’re enjoying it. Moca will be happy about it too once it’s done. This is going to be the nursery.”

Tomoe shuffled over and kissed her love on the cheek. “It’s big enough for the chance you’ll need it too.”

Ran gave a coy smirk as Tomoe used the silence to slide in closer and gently push her to the floor. Ran gave a chuckle and allowed herself to be pushed to lay back and Tomoe hover over the top of her. “You’re very serious about that aren’t you?”

Tomoe leant down to kiss her lips ever so gently. “Is it a bad thing if I am?”

“Not so much bad, but at the same time I would prefer I go through it all with you. Which will happen; I have to believe it.” Ran used a hand to playfully push Tomoe back up so they could sit. “However, for now we were enjoying painting the wall…and ourselves from the looks of you. But just think, after this we can take a nice long bath together.”

Tomoe’s eyes lit up at the suggestion.

*---*

Tomoe sat on the bed; twiddling with buttons on a shirt. She still had a bit of trouble but she’d gotten the hang of it for the most part. It was all she was going to wear; she wasn’t sure pants would work on the offchance she transformed back into a Mermaid. Ran poked her head out from the bathroom and gave a low whistle.

“I will never get over looking at you in just a shirt.” She then composed herself and shuffled out. “Um, don’t know where that came from but. I guess it still stands.”

Tomoe placed her hands down in her lap; her entire demeanour changed in that moment. “This is it, isn’t it?”

Ran’s lip quivered as she strode over and placed hands on Tomoe’s shoulders. “Just before we do this; whatever happens. I just want you to know now that you’ll always be the one for me. No matter what; I’ll always love you.”

Tomoe looked up, and seemed sad as she nodded. They both composed themselves, and walked out of the room and down the stairs slowly to be greeted by the others. Moca gave a sympathetic grin before they all exited the house and down to the shoreline. Where Ran and Tomoe first met.

Lisa was already waiting in the water; her head bobbing around in as she waited patiently. Beside her a head of black hair cautiously rose to break the surface so just violet eyes were peering out. Moca, Himari and Tsugumi stopped on the sand and allowed Tomoe and Ran to wade in knee deep; Tomoe looking to the shore and Ran to the ocean.

“It’s time.” Ran said through a thick throat as they linked hands.

Tomoe nodded before looking around awkwardly. It was as if she was looking for a sign to initiate something. She breathed hard and stepped forward, leaning in.

“I love you, so much.” She whispered before leaning in and kissing Ran. She felt her lips we welcomed and they pressed in harder.

They both had eyes closed; but the gasps and comments followed by something akin to wind blowing around them. The magic had enveloped them for a few moments. Once it subsided however, Ran’s eyes flickered open to see nothing but the deep hues of the night. And Lisa holding her mouth in shock.

“Tom-“ Ran cut herself off as she frantically looked around before looking back at her friends. They too were looking around, Himari had her mouth agape. Ran looked back to see Rinko poking her head completely out and looking concerned. “Tomoe?!” Ran called out, feeling her eyes going wet. She went to call out again but her voice cracked instead.

“I-I’ll check down here!” Lisa dove down in a hurry, not waiting for anyone to object.

Ran just stood with her arms limp to her sides; unsure of whether she wanted to cry or not. She didn’t even react to Tsugumi gripping her arms and trying to call out to her. She was numb, and her head was fuzzy. Sounds became static, and her vision would go out of focus.

Rinko slowly sunk back down under the water as she watched Ran being dragged back to the house.

*---*

“She’s been in that room for almost three weeks now.”

“She doesn’t want us.”

“Has Lisa found anything at all?”

“No, and the magic lady doesn’t know what happened. Tomoe is not down there.”

“Well if she’s not down there and not up here, then where did she go?”

Ran could hear the three discussing the events as she sat on the floor of the nursery; she had decided that she would focus on finishing painting. She was starting to feel ill, but she wouldn’t allow herself to succumb to sleeping her days away.

“Ran? Can I come in?” Tsugumi poked her head in the door, before giving a noise in awe of the wall. “This is beautiful.”

“It’s not yet done.” Ran kept her back turned as she furiously flicked a small brush.

“I get that it’s been rough but I don’t think it’s a good idea to stay in here all the time.”

“It has to be finished now or I’ll forget-“ Ran trailed off as she flicked once more and breathed out. “I’m done.”

She leant back on her hands and Tsugumi came over to inspect it. “Is that…her?” She noticed a mural of Tomoe in the centre; red hair floating around like a majestic mane and she seemed to be playing around with a tiny merbaby. The scales were like a back to orange goldfish. Tsugumi put two and two together and hugged Ran from behind. “Is this for real?”

Ran gave a nod and leant back.

*---*

Moca had insisted Ran go get some air, and basically locked her out until she had at least walked out of view of the kitchen window before she was allowed back in. She groaned and shuffled down the shoreline with her head bowed. She couldn’t even enjoy the walk as she would constantly see her and Tomoe prancing around and laughing. Something she hadn’t done in a while.

She sat down with a sigh and hugged her knees lazily; seconds later she saw Lisa breaking the surface to give an awkward smile. “Hey you.”

“Hey.” Ran’s voice was raspy. “I haven’t spoken to anyone in a while.”

Lisa pulled herself up and flopped over like a seal to sit beside her. “I’m just glad you’re okay. I was getting worried about you.”

Ran gave a smile, and she realised her muscles hadn’t had to do much. “How’ve you been?”

“Oh, well okay I guess?” Lisa pursed her lips and went to speak again, but her attention was drawn to a small area that seemed to be…bubbling? “Do you-“

“Yeah, I do. What is it?” Ran and Lisa leant forward, trying to see what it was.

The area of water burst upwards, making both cry out and throw themselves back as they watched the water shooting up rapidly. As soon as it started, it had finished. Leaving a very soaked, and once again naked Tomoe spitting out water and gasping.

Ran shot up from her seat, not daring to take her eyes off her. “Is this real? Or am I going crazy.”

Tomoe wiped her eyes and hair from her face, before opening them and looking surprised. “Ran? Is that really you?” She pat her body down, feeling her torso and down to legs. “Wait, I’m still human!”

Ran was overcome with emotion and began to sob uncontrollably before throwing herself at the newcomer and burying her head into the broader shoulder. Tomoe instantly wrapped her arms around her and held her tightly.

“I’ve missed you so much! Where did you even go?!” Ran finally found her voice.

“I don’t know! How long was I gone?”

“It’s been almost a month.” Ran went to pull back, but Tomoe pulled her back in.

“Five more minutes.”

*---*

Rinko had since come back from Lisa going to fetched her excitedly, Moca, Himari and Tsugumi had since come out with some clothing after a text message and they had congregated onto the sand once more.

“It really worked.” Himari began to tear up. “It’s so romantic!”

Rinko seemed to be in a better mood and bobbed to where she could speak to them. “I was worried I had done something wrong. It seems like you were almost in a magic purgatory. Something I need to go research, however your help has given me the ability to perfect my serum.”

Tomoe looked excited. “Wait really? So that means…”

Rinko pulled a vial on a strap off her neck and handed it over. “One dose in this. If you take that, you will be able to freely move between the two worlds; no conditions.”

“Time limits?”

Rinko shook her head. “You can stay in either for as long as you want to. You just enter or leave the ocean when you’re ready.” She gave a small smile before pushing back and bobbing once more. “I am working on more, so I will leave you with this gift. Your love was more than enough payment for all this. Th-thankyou.”

Tomoe watched her leave, before staring at the vial and wrapping her fingers around it. Ran touched her arm gently.

“You can go home when you want if you take that.” She gave a smile, but Tomoe didn’t reciprocate.

“I am home though. This is my home now. I’ve had my story already.” She looked up, and her gaze fell onto Lisa; who was bobbing in the water now. “I think someone else needs this a lot more than I do right now.”

Tomoe broke away from Ran, wading in the water to Lisa, who looked at her curiously before having the vial offered. Her gaze had lit up and she almost got teary eyed before opening it and throwing it back in one sip. She waited for a few moments before daring to move towards the surface and crawl onto the sand. Instantly there was a flash; in which everyone covered their eyes, and when they looked back Lisa was now sitting naked on the sand and laughing as she admired her legs.

Ran grabbed Tomoe’s hand gently and they followed the rest in toe. Himari and Tsugumi took their time to allow Lisa to learn to take steps towards the house, but her continued laughing indicated she was finding all of it fun.

“So, guess you’re stuck with all of us from now on.” Ran stated softly.

“I guess I am, but you know what?” Tomoe stopped walking, in which Ran stopped too to face her. “I wouldn’t have it any other way, Little One.”

“I wouldn’t either Fishy.”


End file.
